Breathe
by raVen-reBorN
Summary: Jumba creates a new experiment to counter a dangerous threat to Federation space. 628. Walk with him as he learns to live his life, and to accept his destiny.
1. Intro and Chapter 1

**raVen speaks:**

Hey all! I finally decided to post the first chapter and see how all of you respond. This _is _my billionth attempt at a story, after all. I have about… -counts- …19 seven-to-ten-page-long stories that I started, but never finished. The reason, I found out, is motivation. So I figured, if I don't want this story to die, like the rest of them, I have to post it and get myself a few die-hard fans who would urge me on.

So! This story's about Experiment 628, his life, emotions, and everything that turned around him. I plan for a lot of action, cuddly parts, dramatic parts, and of-course, the dark moody parts, as 628 learns what life has in store for him, and how he comes to terms with his destiny.

Greatly inspired by Great Red Dragon's stories: Before Perfection, Elisir and Light on the Mayo. He promised he'll never leave me, so where's he now…? I hate and despise him… but I will always love him for what he meant to me and will always and forever hope that he might come back to me. Miss you.

And I wasn't honest last time, so, in truth, this story has also been greatly inspired by Kenjaje / Cyradith. Go read his stories (Chronicles of the Elusive Angel, Blue Werewolf) here on to find out why.

* * *

**Legal Issues:**

I don't own the movie 'Lilo and Stitch' or 'Stitch: The Movie', or the series. Lilo, Stitch, Nani, Pleakley, Jumba, David, Gantu, Hamsterviel, the Grand Council Woman, Turo, the Experiment race, the turian language, and everything else in the movies and series all belong to Disney.

Hawaii and Kauai are real places. They exist. Go visit them. Though none of the buildings described herein actually exist in reality in Hawaii. If they do, then it's merely coincidental, as this is a piece of fiction, unless otherwise stated by me.

Experiments 628, 537, 600 and 426 are mine, though, and they belong to me, raVen. Touch them and DIE! (Ask me to touch them, I'll probably say yes 98 of the time, but if you don't, I can sue!)

The story was written, dreamt up and posted, by me, raVen. It is also edited by me, unless stated otherwise.

Henceforth, everything not mentioned above, belongs to me, raVen, or their respective owners.

Also note:

There's various oddities in here that might upset most people, such as violence, crude language, implied sexual scenes and language and homosexuality; but nothing too extreme or vulgar, and it's safe to assume a PG-13 setting for now.

So, now that I have that out of the way, here's my story!

* * *

**Breathe**

© by raVen

Editor: Kenjaje

* * *

**Introduction**

A limitless form drifted through the ether and essence of existence... and suddenly, it was confined; limits, boundaries, grew around it, new sensations flooded its being... the first discernable feeling was self-awareness... and then the question. Always the question.

Why?

Then more sensations flooded in... the self-awareness expanded somewhat, and became simple awareness... this awareness then flooded and spilled outwards until it filled every crevice of the shell... and with it came the feelings... a prickling, and then, pain. A burning pain right in the centre of its awareness.

Awareness then grew further, into the surroundings... Beeping. A constant, rhythmic beeping... but it was fluctuating, beeping fast, then at a medium pace, then fast once more... then shivers, convulsions, as its entire being shook.

"6-2-8... breathe," came a voice. But nothing happened. There was a sigh.

"6-2-8... Breathe," came the voice, a little more stern this time. Once more nothing.

"6... 2... 8...! Breathe!" came the voice once more, this time loud and commanding. But still to no avail. The beeping started increasing now, the medium pace was not at all so medium anymore, and the fast bits where almost one constant beep. The large figure behind the tinted glass pressed the intercom button.

"Damn it! Breathe, before you die!" The voice was close, nearby, and loud... a sting was felt at the tip of the awareness... the words had meaning as well...

... die? Death. Cease of existence. But I must do anything to stay alive. Alive? Persist in existing... but there's a threat at this moment... I must stay alive...

The shockingly vivid-white creature in the tank quivered and shook, and a breath was taken. It coughed and choked as the air burnt its lungs... but oh, it felt so good... it sucked in more and more air till it reached a constant level. The beeping returned to a medium pace.

"There... good. Being breathing for to stay alive..." the figure behind the tinted windows wiped the sweat from his forehead and took his finger off the intercom.

* * *

Jumba Jookiba stared at the glass cylinder in the middle of the white, circular area filled with lights, all shining on the cylinder. His rear set of eyes kept an eye on the control panel in front of him. The cylinder was filled with a blue liquid, and in it, a white creature was drifting in a fetal position, several pipes extended down from the top of the cylinder to its face.

* * *

Who? Where am I? What am I? Why am I here? Why am I? What's this I'm feeling? What is this voice? What is... what is I? What is me? How did I... I am... I is me... it is the self... self is defined by the existence... the existence is what is there... here... I am here, so therefore, self is me, self is I... I am me. Then... how did I- where did I come from?

The darkness of the new being was penetrated by a sudden blue glow that became to sharp to bear, and the creature flinched, subconsciously moving its one arm to cover its mesmerizing eyes from the source of pain. Jumba made notes and dimmed a few of the lights to a more bearable level.

* * *

"Being good so far."

The creature's eyes was astonishing to behold… where Stitch had solid black colored eyes, this creature had a type of resonating blue color that seemed to change in shade and tint as the angle of light did. If looked at from the side, its eyes would seem purplish, but from in front, it was a deep, radiant blue. In bright light, they seemed to suck you in if you looked at them long enough, and in the dark, they gave off a feint blue glow.

* * *

Millions of questions raced through its head. And at once, all instincts, bodily function information, memories, greater feelings, its previous form, the questions, all, just flooded in and shot through its mind at speeds too great to fathom.

* * *

The beeping once again rose to a critical level, and Jumba dropped his notepad as the creature started convulsing. It shook and spasmed and grabbed at its head... the blue liquid was tinted pink as it bled from its nose.

Jumba pressed controls, swore, looked around in panic, and glanced at monitors.

"Suffering major hemorrhaging!" he shouted. The creature writhed and turned around. Jumba saw this and swore again.

"Be still! Will choke self in life-equipment!" he shouted at it through the glass. He slammed his fist on the control panel in helplessness and stared as the creature writhed for a few seconds more, and then it stopped... it drifted quietly, its head facing away from Jumba, and his right arm outstretched, caught in one of the tubes. Jumba stared a few seconds, paid good attention to the constant beeps coming from the machine, and sunk into his chair. He said one or another deity's name loudly and rubbed his temples.

"Am getting to old for this."

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"... has reduced the planet Strajor in the Epsilon system to ruin... no weapons seem to be effective against this monstrosity, and its strength is too great for our forces to have any effect in melee combat. The Grand Council Woman had spoken about this earlier... here she is:"

The small screen, part of the round red communicator that Jumba now held in his hand, changed to where the Grand Council Woman was standing on a porch, overlooking a large public square where thousands of aliens stood to listen to what she had to say.

"The Galactic Defense Industries are doing what they can to counter-act this threat. Citizens are advised to not resist this creature, as it will only harm those who wish to harm it. I am also to strongly advise residents of surrounding systems and planets to keep some sort of space-worthy escape craft ready to leave on shortest notice. The Grand Council are still deciding on what to do in relevance to this threat."

"Your Excellency! Where did this creature come from?" called a random reporter from the crowd.

"This creature is none other than a creation of the twisted mind of former GDI scientist, Jumba Jookiba." Jumba smiled and sat up, puffing his chest out a bit with pride.

"If he created this creature, he can stop it!"

"What're his demands?"

"Pay the madman whatever he wants!"

"Think of our offspring!"

"Silence! ...I assure you all! Total effort has been made to contact the scientist, to no avail!" A ripple went through the crowd... it was obviously not apparent that he was free.

"Is he not in prison?" came a call, amongst hundred others.

"Silence!" An enforcer (the red lizards in the white suits from the movie) nearby let a shot of plasma loose into the air. The people quieted.

"He has been banished to beyond the outer rim. A place that is barely chartered and contains no sentient life whatsoever for light-years around, and no technology or fuel is available for him to return. If only we could contact him in some way," the Grand Council Woman then looked, for some weird reason, directly at the camera of the news-station Jumba was viewing, "...we would ask of him to come to our aid as soon as possible." Her gaze remained stern for a few seconds, and then returned to the crowd.

"Why would he help us?"

"Are we doomed?" and similar shouts rose up as Jumba closed the little communicator and frowned as he stared at the white creature in the tank. A feeling of urgency was now buried just above his stomach. Luckily, Nadeo, an old friend of Jumba's, had contacted him several weeks before and warned him of that he had seen a red experiment consume a very rare and exotic crystal in the back of his own laboratory on Turo. Jumba could only guess what this crystal was, as he had heard rumors of it before.

"Am busy already, woman. Not fearing, help will being arriving soon enough..." he said morbidly and got to work.

* * *

"Not that one, Stitch!" Lilo groaned and walked to the cupboard herself and took out the red dress.

"Naga, patooka! Nikka gretta cramiga ju---tagga-tagga!" Stitch protested and pointed at the green one he had in his other paw.

"But that's for beach-Wednesdays... you know that by now..."

"Naga besta." Stitch mumbled and replaced the green dress. When he turned around, Lilo had already started getting out of her pajamas. Stitch gasped and slammed his arms over his face.

"Soka!" he mumbled and walked into the nearby wall, as he searched for the elevator.

"Soka..." he said again, and walked into the book-case, throwing off some books and sea-shells.

"Soka...!" he groaned once more.

"Stitch? What are you doing?"

"Huh?" He said and opened his arms somewhat, afraid of what he might see... but Lilo was fully dressed. He dropped his hands.

"Ju jisha..." he said and stared, slightly surprised.

"I know. Now let's get breakfast!" she said and walked to the elevator, swinging and clapping her hands. Stitch stared after her and she smiled at him as the elevator went down.

"Heh... gashooka..." he mumbled when he was alone a few seconds... then in a burst of energy, scuttled to the elevator and down the pipe to the bottom, past Lilo who was still on the stairs ("Hey!") and into the kitchen. Nani was at work already, and had left some pancakes and syrup. Stitch stuffed two of the pancakes into his mouth and squirted syrup until he could barely close his mouth. He swallowed it all in one gulp.

"Stitch!" Lilo said with disbelief from the door. She stood there gaping. Stitch's ears lowered somewhat and he looked from her to the syrup bottle and back again with a sheepish grin.

"Heh. Stitch hungry...!" he said and replaced the bottle.

"It's amazing you haven't choked yet... or swallowed your own tongue…!" Lilo said and pushed a chair over to the pancakes, getting herself one of the last two, and neatly squirting some syrup on it. Stitch was eying the coffee-machine. Lilo took her plate to the table and put it on top, pushing the chair back and taking a seat.

"Don't even think about it." She said when she noticed his sneaky behavior as he moved past.

"Aaaaw..." he mumbled, and his arms and ears dropped. He looked at Lilo with large watery eyes. Lilo stared at him for a moment and played with her fork.

"... oh okay... you can have some. But only if we go, okay?" Stitch's mood lifted considerably and everything seemed to spring back up, his ears, his smile and his arms, which were applauding excitedly.

"Yah yah!" he said eagerly and took a seat across from Lilo, doing his best to look as bored as he could, which wasn't much trouble.

After Lilo had finished eating, she got her bag and Stitch helped himself to... all the coffee.

Lilo returned from her room to find Stitch oddly still, slouched forward, ears three-quarters of the way up, as if waiting for something to happen. He looked at Lilo, without turning his head, when she came in. She was smiling.

"Well. Let's go!" she said... something was wrong, Lilo was stifling a laugh. Stitch now fully looked at Lilo with a suspicious tilt of his head.

"Ju... naga..." he said softly and looked at the coffee pot.

"Ju naga takasha coffee katagga!" he said, with a true sounding 'hurt'-tone to it, like he was gonna cry, and pointed to the coffee-flask. He looked at Lilo for an answer to his unasked question... but the answer was apparent.

Decaf.

He drooped his shoulders and gave some kind of whimper, defeated, falling face-first to the counter-top. Lilo chuckled and looked triumphant.

"Was all my idea too! Jumba told me you get a energy rush from the coff...caffe-een. So I asked Nani to get some without it!" she said and threw her arms apart, striding from the room. Stitch looked up and growled.

"Lilo patootie!" he shouted, jumping off the counter and walking after her, arms crossed; a pout on his face.

"Just think of all the trouble I'm saving you! You won't break things, and Nani won't bore us all to death with her yelling! Everyone's happy," Lilo said as she held open the door.

"Except miga..." Stitch mumbled. If he had pockets, his hands would be in them right now; but he pulled at his eyelids instead with a low growl as he walked past her, out the door.

"Don't worry! You'll still get coconut-cake whenever Nani makes some..." she said and closed the door.

"Wait!" came a shout from inside. Lilo opened it, finding Pleakley with two very full glasses of purplish liquid. He was looking at them with his eye, keeping them in balance.

"What's that?" Lilo asked, pointing with disgust at the thick liquid. Stitch sniffed the air.

"I don't know! Jumba wants it... it's very sweet, so I got myself some too..." Pleakley said like it was the greatest idea ever.

"Where is Jumba? He hasn't been here for a while..." Lilo said and looked into the house, just before she closed the door.

"He's in his ship, working on something big and secret!"

That did it. Both Lilo and Stitch's attention was caught.

"What?"

"Gabba?"

"I don't know... he doesn't want to tell me... but I'll find out now... he's sure to tell me now that I'm helping him!" His eye stretched.

"... But what if he's busy with his evil science again?" he looked at the glasses like they were snakes.

"I could be helping him with his bad-science!"

"Jumba won't do bad things again... he's good now! And... After what happened with 6-2-7, he promised not to anyway."

"I don't know..." Pleakley's mood swung again. "Oooh! Better go find out...!" he said eagerly and hurried down the stairs and into the forest, along the path that Jumba had made with his larger-than-average body.

"Jasha shakadda..." Stitch mumbled.

"We can sneak into his ship when we get back and find out..." Lilo said in a whisper.

"Jumba make new cousin?" Stitch enquired. Lilo thought for a moment.

"With all the cousins still left to find? Being a big genius, Jumba would be pretty dumb if he did that. He has so many, so why make more?" she said with a giggle.

"Besides. He made a promise not to make more…" She frowned and looked at the forest. "What was that purple stuff?"

"Shooka-nikpikka," Stitch replied plainly.

"_Eeeu!_" Lilo said and frowned, pulling her hands up to her chest.

"Why do they wanna drink _that_?

"Naga besta." They paused for a few moments, wondering what Jumba was up too when Lilo broke the silence.

"Come-on. We're late for hula class!"

"Ih!"

* * *

The hula class finished, amazingly uneventful, until...

"My mom brought us some ice-cream for after the class." Myrtle said with her usual air of superiority and her shadows, or 'friends', applauded eagerly. They all circled Myrtle, who was holding a two-liter tub of the stuff. Lilo looked up from where she was rubbing the soles of her feet on the stage.

"Can I have some?" she asked, innocent enough. Myrtle looked up just as she was about to dig into the tub with a table-spoon along with the rest.

"Pff. Wierdlo, you're fat enough already without ice-cream to make you even fatter..."

"Yeeeeaah!"

"I'm not fat!" she said, stomping her foot on the stage and balling her fists. They ignored her and kept on eating ice-cream. Moses was absent from the room, talking with Myrtle's mother outside. Lilo walked to Stitch, who was playing with his saliva behind stage. He was hanging from the wall, making large drops of saliva do bungee-jumps. Lilo waved to him. "Come on... let's go home..."

"Oketaka!" Stitch said and the long slimy tendril of saliva snapped, splatting on the wooden floor. He was overly excited now that the boring wait was over. As they walked to the front door Lilo paused at the bunch of girls. "Can I at least ask what flavor it is?"

"...hm... coconut-cream..." Myrtle mumbled with her mouth full. Stitch's ears shot up, and, having been denied his simple pleasures all day long, began drooling at once.

"...heehee... bakka-nidookida!" he mumbled and ran towards them.

"Stitch! No!"

"...hey! What're you-? Hey!" Stitch pulled away one of the girls and grabbed for the ice-cream while the rest screamed and ran in different directions.

"Mommy!" Myrtle yelled and ran for the door. Stitch dumped all the ice-cream in his mouth and chewed it a bit before swallowing. Lilo simply stood with a hand on her forehead.

"What's going on here? Girls! Girls!" Moses said, coming inside and quickly motioning for all of them to calm down.

"What is it, Myrtle?"

"Lilo's crazy dog attacked us...!" she looked back, and gasped. Stitch was standing innocently next to Lilo, the empty tub next to him. "And he ate all our ice-cream!" Myrtle's mom frowned and looked up.

"Oh... that's okay honey, we'll just buy you some more..."

"No! She should buy it!" Myrtle shouted and pointed. Lilo crossed her arms and Stitch's ears lowered.

"It's okay, it's okay... there's plenty more-"

"It's her dog who ate it, and I want _her_ to buy me new ice-cream!" Myrtle's mom sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'll go phone her sister..." Moses said and walked away, shaking his head.

* * *

**raVen speaks:**

And that's about it for now. Let me know what you guys think, and I'll get the next chapter done. All suggestions are not only welcome, but rather needed, and so is constructive criticism that'll help me better this story. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Hmm… I was so excited about this when I started it… but the very reason I was writing this story kinda… told me to get a life… Haha! But I won't stop writing, though. I've got responsibility to my fans P

So… Read on…

* * *

**Breathe**

**Chapter 2**

© by raVen

Editor: Kenjaje

* * *

"You may be moving… go on then. I know you are wanting to."

The white experiment was sitting on the table, having been removed from the tube only moments before, and it was still wet and sticky from the blue life-support liquid. The said liquid still clung to his short white fur in messy heaps, on top of his shoulders, the longer fur on its head and on its back, still oozing and dribbling from its legs as it sat on the table, forming a small blue pool. It had coughed violently as the tubule that had been inserted into its lungs, was removed by Jumba, slightly scratching its throat. It now sat, staring at Jumba, and tilted its head at him, as if he found the fact that this fat, blue creature could talk, most strange. Jumba frowned at this reaction.

"Am understanding me, correct?"

"-hh" the creature coughed as it instinctively spoke in reply; its never-used-before vocal chords stinging. Its eyes tearing, it spoke an audible "Ih!" at Jumba on the second try, who seemed to sigh in relief.

"Am almost thinking that having made some mistake in speech recognition." The creature let out some kind of grunt as it lifted its four arms, the sticky liquid forming a thin film of slime between the two sets of arms, and pulling strings of dripping goo from the lower set to the table.

"Angh…" it grunted again and looked at its left set of arms. It realized that these appendages were his, and it could make them move at will… and it found this fact most fascinating over the next few minutes, making its clawed fingers bend, and straighten, over and over again. Jumba watched his reactions for a few more moments, before deciding it would be safe to leave the area. He walked back into the observation room, and out the door into the short hallway towards the cockpit where Pleakley was still waiting, one of the glasses now empty.

"What empty glass for?"

"I liked the taste of this wonderful drink of yours…! So I poured some for myself…!" Pleakley said… his face wore an expression of extreme euphoria.

"No! Cannot be drinking this!" Jumba said and stared in disbelief at the empty glass.

"I _am_ finding it hard to move, though…" Pleakley said, strangely calm, as if this were an everyday occurrence. "And have I mentioned just how nice this cabin looks?" he said and slowly gazed all over the room with a slow, dramatic 'wooooow'… Jumba wiped his hand over his face. He picked up the glass still containing some purple liquid.

"Hmmm… I love you, Jumba… Have I ever told you that? You're my biggest friend…" At this, Jumba simply stood and stared. He lifted the purple liquid to his eyes and stared at it, then at Pleakley again. He rubbed his chin and pondered _this _new development, gazing at the purple liquid now and then.

"Interesting…" he mumbled to himself after a few seconds while he walked back to the mini-laboratory in the back of the ship. He clearly hasn't tested what results the substance would have on non-experiment creatures.

Closing the door behind him, Jumba quickly found an old syringe in one of the drawers in the observation room, while watching 628 feel at the spaces between his stubby toes with a most curious face. He washed out the syringe after removing the needle and quickly drew it full of the thick purple liquid. The glass had about half an inch of liquid left when Jumba moved around to the room where the experiment sat on the table.

* * *

628 dropped what he was doing and immediately focused his attention on Jumba, and the device… instinctively, he was afraid and leaned back a bit… he could feel his heart beating and found this new sensation curious enough to forget about the syringe. Jumba bent over as he readied himself should the creature try to run.

"All right, 6-2-8. Be calm. This is a sucrose-concentrate filled with chemically altered hormones and other extracts that will awake the latent potential of powers; it will also enable you to use the full capacity of mind, as well as all other abilities." He stood up from his ready stance, and looked at the syringe. "Though, I bathed 6-2-6 in it for several minutes… being wondering if giving you a limited amount would be detrimental to abilities… but…" Jumba shrugged. "Am afraid this is last of substance I have. Will have to make more or have any new experiments manually unlock abilities through study and use… being tedious…" He shrugged again and bent over again, taking 628 by the head. The creature's eyes stretched some. "Be calm. It will not being hurting." And Jumba pressed the small point into the creature's mouth, past its lips, and started squirting. Immediately, it showed discomfort at this new feeling, and started squirming, but when the taste of the sweet substance broke through, it calmed again. As the fluids reached the back of its throat, it started swallowing instinctively and soon, there was none of the fluid left. It sat, smacking its lips and rolling the remainder of the taste around its mouth. As Jumba let go of it, and walk back, the creature stared at its chest and stomach, using a claw to trail the path down the front of its body, where the fluid had moved down its throat.

"Now… will be taking several moments to be coming into effect… then will be seeing if genetic coding was correct!" Jumba said and moved out of the room to put away the syringe. 628 sat for a few seconds, and then everything seemed to become clearer and clearer around him, and he found that he could see fine detail from a distance… raising a paw, and tilting his head at how light his arm suddenly seemed, he gazed at his paw, and noticed it had dried since his exodus from the pod… and he could clearly distinguish every single hair on his thumb… a few seconds of staring at it and he knew that he was looking at 3411 hairs covering a square-centimeter of his thumb. He was amazed at how he knew this, but then the pain came. Deep inside his body, his arms, legs, chest, neck, torso, there came a sharp pulling-pain… as if his muscles were trying to tear loose from his bones. His face distorted with the uncomfortable pain and he began groaning unpleasantly as the sensations seemed to intensify. He looked down at his arms, and was shocked to see them suddenly bulging, small ridges all over them pointed out the strain on his arteries and veins under his skin. His shoulders moved back and there was a popping sound (similar to when you crack your fingers-joints, or twist you back after sitting still for long). The sound originated from his chest, and lower back, as pressure was relieved between the joints as the muscles pulled them apart. A second later this all stopped and 628 was left catching his breath. He fell flat on his back and laid that way, staring up at the ceiling for several more moments, feeling an odd sensation spread all over him. Once again, he felt at ease, and looking down, he noticed that the unnatural bulging of his muscles and veins were gone and he was left looking merely considerably more buff than a minute ago. He also noticed he knew more or less the oxygen content of the air around him, and noticed there were percentages of other gasses in it as well, but couldn't name any of these. Wondering how he knew this, he caught something at the top of his sight… and reaching up, he found strange growths on his head… feeling around, he noticed two long tube-like appendages with slightly larger tips extending from the middle of his head… and these were rather sensitive to his touch.

Jumba soon came back, a cloth in his hands to dry off any spilled liquids from earlier, and laughed triumphantly at what he saw.

"Is being working! Now. 6-2-8. Can you understand me better."

"Ih, nikishta."

"Good good! Now be saying english…"

"…Ehh… Y-yes, creator."

"Excellent. How do you feel?"

"Morchabba!" he replied and Jumba chuckled with delight once more.

"Now. First thing's first. You are experiment 6-2-8… so your identification number is 6-2-8. I for to created you to be removing of evil malfunctioning experiment."

"Gabba?"

"Am hearing me. This experiment has unique ability that amplifies own strength and speed when used… But has being grossly amplified during some incident… not sure what is being, but having theory."

628 lowered his head some… so… he was here… alive… simply to one day fight another creature he has never met?

"Now, intensive training must occur to teach how to use own body, and very special and unique ability of own. But until-"

"Jumba…?" came a call from behind.

"BAAAH! SPIES!" Jumba yelled and quickly covered 628 with the cloth he was using to clean his hands, and then turned to stand in front of the experiment, so anyone at the door cannot see. There stood a whiter-than-usual-looking Pleakley.

"I-I think… I'm allergic to that drink of yours…" and he aptly lost it all over the floor.

* * *

"Lilo, Lilo, Lilo, Lilo!" Nani said as they got into her truck. Stitch got in last, ears laid back flat, and a guilty frown on his face… he had gotten Lilo in trouble, again, for probably the hundredth time. Lilo was sitting with her arms crossed and a pout on her face in the front seat. Nani fumed as she placed the key in the ignition, but she didn't start the car. After a moment of silence, trying to calm down, she spoke.

"Either you teach Stitch some manners, or he stays home from now on!"

"I already tried teaching him, but he's a free spirit! He can't be bound by stupid rules!"

"Then we'll leash him to the foundation!" Nani said, gripping the steering wheel. Lilo looked away, miffed.

"This is the third time in a row that he's made problems, Lilo!" Nani added, banging her palm on the steering wheel once to emphasize her point.

"Meega soka…" came the little voice from behind. Nani suddenly looked at Stitch, and he jumped. Nani shook her head at him and then talked in a pleading voice.

"Why, Stitch? Why torment me like this? Why do you have to embarrass me in front of all these people every single time?" Stitch opened his mouth and shook his head while pointing at himself.

"Naga Stitch!"

"Oh? Then who was it?"

"Naga! Ika patookie Myrtle, kidakka miga shikou gibba mika Lilo, esso Stitch pitchiti sikikiddi anna ng-ng!" he blabbered out, finishing with a wild poke in Myrtle's direction, who was getting in her mom's car a few yards away. Nani wore the strangest expression she could muster, while Lilo matter-of-factly said, "Yeah, Stitch! Tell her! It's stinky-head Myrtle's fault!"

Nani frowned at Stitch, who wore a determined look.  
"How do you understand him? Uhg, but that's beside the point. Lilo, I told you by now, to ignore Myrtle and whatever she says…"

"It wasn't me! Stitch just taught her a lesson!"

"Ih!"

Nani frustratingly groaned and rubbed her forehead. A headache threatened behind her temples… it had been an annoying day so far, already. "Look… either Stitch stays at home from now on, or you have to stop your hula practice."

"What!" came Lilo's call, loud enough to make Nani flinch.

"How do you want me to choose between my best friend and the only thing I like to do?"

"Lilo-"

"Why don't you just throw me to vampires while you're busy trying to kill me!" Nani rolled her eyes. "Look, let's make a deal. If Stitch can behave for the next four days, and not have me scream or yell at him once, then he can keep on going to hula practice with you."

"You got a deal. Up for it, Stitch?"

"Ih!" and Nani started the car, chuckling to herself. The success rating of Stitch behaving for four days is as good as her boss giving her a raise. She pulled away, turning to drop Lilo and Stitch off at the house before going back to work.

* * *

628 had used the cloth thrown over him to wipe the sticky blue liquid from his fur, and Jumba had lifted him from the table onto a lower foot-table and had placed the, now unconscious Pleakley on the larger table. 628 looked scruffy and the longer fur on his chest and back was tangled and meshed together from the blue liquid. He raked his claws through his chest-fur a few times to try and straighten it out; why, he didn't know… but he felt better when he looked reasonably presentable once more. Jumba had cleaned up Pleakley's mess and soon returned to the room.

"This is being Pleakley… he is being agent of Galactic Federation… left here on little planet to observe and document human race. Heh-heh. Is seeming to be consuming him," he finished with a chuckle at Pleakley's female human clothing. Jumba stood up some and took a formal pose.

"I am Jumba Jookiba, your creator, and former lead scientist of Galactic Defense Industries on Turo… also being former evil genius, but having found softer spot for earthlings."

"Tsh… tshunabagga?" 628 spoke.

"Yes… see, am being exiled to planet for creating others just like you…" 628 took a few seconds before this sunk in.

Others like me? he thought to himself, his mouth slightly ajar.

"Hah, yes! You have siblings… or 'cousins' as little earth girl be saying… which is a more true term as none of you actually share common parents to be calling siblings… but even better term would be 'same species'… which is called 'experiments'… have not yet had time, or creative flare, to be thinking of name for species of creations. Now. You are on planet earth in Omega twelve quadrant of outer-rim galaxies of Federation universe. Planet is inhabited by native humans. Primitive in technology, in comparing to other species… Will be seeing humans soon enough. You might not be aware of this yet, but you are being a male of experiment species. See, be finding two genders, or 'sexes' of a species. Traditionally, and naturally, male being one to defend territory and mate with females, while females look after young and find food. In sentient species, though, roles have changing somewhat dramatically."

628 nodded, and lowered his head as he digested this information. So. He was 'Experiment 628' on planet Earth. There were others like him, but he didn't know where. He was a male of his species, and he didn't really know what that meant yet. And all he was created for, it seems, was to destroy an experiment that he hasn't seen yet, or whose number he doesn't even know!

"Gabbata ingatta miga baka-dooka?" he questioned and coughed again. That was his longest sentence ever! Jumba waited till he stopped hacking and spoke.

"That is being for later. Not worrying about that. For now, must be getting used to being alive. Come… Ready to see the world?"

628's expression brightened considerably at this thought.

Wow. So there is more to existence than this little room? he thought to himself as Jumba picked him up and then moved through the door to the observation room and through to the cockpit's area. 628 almost twisted his neck off as he tried to take in everything around him. The smells were dramatic, almost overwhelming him, and everything there was to see… the colors, the fabrics, chairs, lights, blinking buttons and consoles. He found his excitement for being alive was slowly drowning out the fear he had of this unwanted mortal enemy, somewhere in the depths of space.

* * *

**raVen speaks:**

And that's the end of chapter 2. Look for chapter 3 soon. This might be slightly full of grammar mistakes, as I didn't have the heart to read it over and fix stuff.

-raVen


	3. Chapter 3

**raVen speaks:**

Sorry for the long delay in posting this, but I did mention, on my bio page, that I was taking a two-week road trip… But I'm back now, with chapter three. Read, rate, review, but most of all, enjoy!

To my fans:

HeMeleNoLiloLover: I plan to keep on going, and thanks for the review!

Ri2: That's two reviews! Thanks for your loyalty and time, and stay tuned!

Ecliptic(Starry): Thanks for the fave! Keep on reading!

Gijinka Renamon: Yep, there's more. A LOT more.

Thanks guys! You really make it worth writing! Stay tuned for episode three!

* * *

**Breathe**

**Chapter 3**

© by raVen

Editor: Kenjaje

* * *

The truck stopped off in front of the stairs to the Pelekai house and the passenger's door opened, as well as the rear-left door.

"Now. Remember our deal, okay?" Nani said as Lilo was closing the door.

"Yeah…" she replied and walked around to Stitch's side. What was she going to do? As she pondered her thoughts, Stitch slammed the door so the car lifted up on its two right wheels, and Nani's scream was heard from the inside.

"STITCH!" came the yell and he lifted his paws quickly and hid behind Lilo.

"Soka! Meega sooka!" he yelled back as Nani stared at him through the window, furious.

"Oooooh!" came her muted groan as she started the car again. Revving the engine, she spun the wheels and turned, speeding off down the dusty path. Lilo sighed and shook her head slowly as she stared at Stitch's sheepish expression where he sat doggy-style just behind her. What had she gotten herself into? She turned and crouched to look into his big, black eyes. Stitch flinched and leaned back some, keeping the eye contact for a few seconds before becoming uneasy and looking away with a groan… she kept staring at him thusly and he glanced at her every few seconds, leaning back a bit every time.

"Gabba!" he finally yelled and fell over. As if she was expecting this, Lilo simply repositioned herself so she could look at him from the side, holding back her hair with one hand.

"Stitch… I really need you to behave for the next four days…" she said, seriously. Stitch bared his teeth in an uncomfortable cringe under her scrutiny.

"Not only is this a matter of life and death, but we also have to prove to Nani, once and for all, that you are a true, model citizen!"

"I-ih?" he dared.

"From now on, or at least till the next hula practice, eat with a knife and fork, or with a spoon. Chew with your mouth closed, and compliment Nani on the food. Sit up at the table, and we're going to have to leave the coffee-"

"Naga!"

"It's for a good cause, Stitch." He groaned uncomfortably, once again. He wasn't going to have a say in this matter… Lilo seemed strangely resolute to have him be obedient. She counted off on her fingers all the things she just said.

"Oh, and one more thing… When you use the toilet, please put the seat down again. Nani hates it if you leave it up for some reason. Hm… okay, that's everything Nani was complaining about last week. Okay. My turn: from now on, you drink warm milk before going to bed, no more action movies or cartoons on TV-"

"Naaaagaaaa!" Stitch yelled in agony. This was torture!

"Please, Stitch. Just for four days." He put on his best puppy-dog face and Lilo's heart melted.

"Okay." She paused and stood up as she thought.

"I got it! Let's stay on Jumba's ship!"

Stitch tilted his head, not completely understanding how she got to this conclusion.

"You can do whatever you want, and Nani won't know! At least, that way, you won't be breaking Nani's things and she wouldn't see you not-behaving!" Stitch's face lit up considerably and he grinned.

"Lilo smart!" he said and she gave him a quick peck on his nose. His eyes fluttered and he blushed slightly.

"Thanks! Now, let's go see what Jumba was up too!" she said and turned, but froze in her tracks. Stitch, who had eagerly gotten up to follow her walked right into her back.

"Oof! Soka…" he said and rubbed his nose. He looked up at Lilo, who was wearing a confused expression.

"Gabba?" he questioned and followed her gaze. Jumba had emerged from the jungle with his back to them, and seemed to be urging something to follow him.

"What's he doing?"

"Naga nota…" Stitch mumbled, using his enhanced vision to try and spot what Jumba was doing. Jumba continued to back up into the clearing in front of the house, and soon afterwards, Stitch gasped as a white creature broke through the leaves somewhat unsteadily on its hind legs, its upper two paws stretched out, and its lower two spread to the side to keep its balance. Jumba was laughing with delight, once more.

"Be doing it! See! Is not so difficult!"

"Is that an experiment?" Lilo asked loudly and Jumba gasped, quickly trying to hide 628 with his bulk once more, spreading his arms.

"Ih! Cousin!" came Stitch's own exited voice from the side and he pointed; his ears up in curiosity.

"No! Is…. Uh, native island animal! Is not new experiment!"

"Akatah?"

"Yeah, what do you mean 'new' experiment? Like, one we haven't found yet? Or something else-?" They started moving closer in an arch to try and see what was behind Jumba, but he turned with them.

"Is uh- no, but-uh…" Jumba stammered and looked behind him at the white creature who was staring up at him with confusion. He dropped his arms and his head and shrugged.

"Okay okay… come here," he said and waved them over… but it wasn't really necessary as they had already moved nearly all the way to see what Jumba was hiding. He stepped out of the way to reveal the white creature. Lilo and Stitch both gasped and the creature replied by gazing between them with utmost curiosity… he leaned forward and smelled in their direction, and Stitch did the same.

"Ika male! Like Stitch!" he replied after a few seconds and 628 flinched at this sudden outburst and almost fell over backwards if Jumba's leg wasn't in the way. He bent his leg to help him back onto his feet.

"Wow… you have beautiful eyes…" Lilo said as she walked closer, cautiously, to peer into them. Instead of flinching or cringing, this time 628 stared back with just as much awe. He gazed up at Jumba and pointed at Lilo.

"Ooshtakka goojita bey joojibba!" he questioned loudly and Lilo frowned, looking up at Jumba and then at Stitch, who had also slightly tilted his head, but his ears were in a curious-yet-surprised angle. Jumba opened his mouth to answer, but Lilo spoke first at Stitch.

"You understand him?" she asked.

"Ih… Is gajakka turian…"

"Huh? What's that?" Lilo frowned, not understanding.

"Uhh… other Stitch-talk! Like Stitch-talk, but little different…" Stitch tried to clarify, but Jumba interjected.

"Is dialect of Turian. Same as Stitch's language, but just sounding different… there is being seven dialects."

"Oh… okay…" Lilo replied, slightly put off that, of all the experiments, this would be the first she wouldn't be able to talk to.

"And yes, 6-2-8, little girl is being native of planet." 628 looked back at Lilo as she frowned and Stitch gasped.

"Oooh… tajabba. Ihn-" He raised his hand slowly to Stitch.

"Gaja… gaja cousin?"

"Yes. That is what we call your 'cousin', or family. Let little girl give you whole ohana-speech later."

"So… you're 6-2-8…?" Lilo asked, and he nodded after looking at Jumba for approval. "How new is he?" Lilo asked suspiciously. Stitch was behaving very strangely. He had pulled out all his alien features and had backed up a bit.

"Uhm… okay, look little girl… know am been promising-"

"Naga takabah! Gaba ika tasoopa, Jumba! Stitch naga baka-dooka! Stitch good!" he yelled and caused all three of them to stare at him.

"Stitch! What's wrong?" Lilo asked and frowned at him. Stitch pointed at 628 who looked up at Jumba, confused.

"Jumba boocha ingatta 6-2-8 eega 6-2-7! Baka-dokka Stitch!" It took a second for Jumba to actually get what Stitch meant and he laughed.

"Calm down, 6-2-6! Have doing nothing wrong…" he chuckled again. "No, no. Is not another experiment like 6-2-7…"

"Gabba?"

"Is true… calm down and listen up. Over past three months, have been creating this experiment… experiment 6-2-8…" Lilo's face turned to unbelieving shock.

"But you promised you won't ever make experiments again!"

"Been having no choice, little girl. At this moment being, very evil experiment 'cousin' is free in galaxy… causing much destruction. And… and am afraid not even 6-2-6 was strong enough to defeat this one." Stitch, who was calming down, crossed his four arms and pouted with a 'hmph'.

"So having being creating 6-2-8 to counter this new threat…"

"Oh… Okay…" Stitch mumbled and withdrew his alien features and gave a little laugh at his foolishness.

"Now, let us be doing this right. 6-2-8. Meet little earth-girl, Lilo." Lilo stuck out her hand in greeting, but 628 took it, pulled her closer and gave her a long lick across the face.

"Eeeeeeeu!" she squealed and wiped the saliva off her face. Stitch chuckled.

"Is being how experiments record and sort scents and smells of new people into memory… oh, and 6-2-8, meet experiment 6-2-6, or Stitch."

Instead of licks, they sniffed at each other again, and grinned at each other afterwards. Lilo tilted her head as she was waiting for them to do something more.

"Hey! Why don't they lick each other, then?" Lilo asked and pointed after a few seconds and Jumba laughed, covering his face with one hand. The two experiments sat with ears at various angles, looking confused, as if they didn't know the answer to these questions themselves.

"Okay, seeing as being of same species, smell is being enough, as can compare data from smell with own and store this data. Is much quicker, but each new species something more is needed."

"Weird. How come they can't just shake hands like everyone else?"

"Stitch not like everyone else!" Stitch said and crossed his arms with a smile.

"I know… So, what's his name?"

"Hm. Don't know…" Jumba said and thought for a second.

"Don't worry; I usually get the best names for all the experiments. So… What does he do?"

"Well… His primary function being to destroy rogue experiment by any means possible…"

"Oh… so, no super-cool powers like Yin and Yang or Yaarp or Splodyhead or-"

"Stitch?" he said from the side, a little sad that Lilo didn't think he had super-cool powers.

"No, not like you. No-one can have powers like you do."

"Aaaw… takka…"

"It's okay. You're the best-"

"In-fact… 6-2-8 actually being like 6-2-6 in most regard… except, did not give 6-2-8 pre-programmed data-shot that is making all experiments evil… uhm, which am reminding me… Hmm. To be asking favor of you two."

"A favor? What favor?"

"Gasha ju dja jinjibe."

"No, 6-2-6. Am charging you with teaching 6-2-8 all about living. Especially you, 6-2-6. See, data-shot also contains all training and studies of everything needed to be evil-genius experiment in real life." 628 had been feeling an odd pressure building up near his stomach since he was… uhm… Alive? And he twitched his legs a bit to relieve it… but moving suddenly made him realize the pressure was bigger than it felt.

"So, we get to be his teacher?" Lilo asked excitedly.

"Hmm… something like that."

"Wow! But we're not going to teach him how to be evil, okay?"

628 made some strange faces and absent-mindedly moved his lower set of paws to his crotch. Stitch noticed this…

"Well, that is being own decision. 6-2-8 completely free from programming. And… maybe be leaving name choosing to self as well."

"Okay… so… what do we start with?"

"Uhm, tajatta gooshka? Paja toodokka!" came Stitch's voice and he pointed at 628, who was now hopping around. Jumba gasped.

"Good idea, 6-2-6! Start with toilet-training! Hurry!"

* * *

Stitch closed the toilet-door behind him and looked at where Lilo was standing in the living-room with a disturbed look.

"Stitch never do again!" he said, his face almost glowing from embarrassment as he quickly hurried up onto the couch and buried his face in a pillow.

"Why?"

"Spichatakka!" came his muffled reply.

"Embarrassing? But why? You're both boys-"

"Oke-takka! Cheetah!" came his muffled voice again and Lilo kept quiet, not understanding what Stitch was going on about. A few moments later, there was a crash that made both of them jump.

"Oh no. I heard that sound before…" Lilo said and looked at Stitch with horror.

"You did tell him to flush it very softly, right?" Stitch grimaced and Lilo groaned with frustration. "Not again!"

They both ran to bathroom and opened to door to find a 628 clinging to the wall, and, surely enough, the toilet-basin was in two pieces on the floor, which was covered in water, a steady stream still squirting from the pipe protruding from the wall. Lilo looked at the destruction and Stitch lifted his paws from the wet floor and glanced at them.

"Meega soka!" 628 said from the wall with a truly shocked and sorrowful face. It seemed he had a start at what he just did, and almost looked like he was going to cry.

"Hey… I can understand you!" Lilo said, but before she could get excited about it, she clasped her hands over her mouth, and her eyes stretched as she gasped.

"No! Stitch, our deal! Nani can't know about 6-2-8 and now she's going to think it's you! Know what this means?" Stitch's jaw and ears dropped with worry and looked around as his mind raced. He gasped and prodded Lilo's shoulder.

"Naga! Jumba fix!" Lilo's face brightened some.

"Okay, hide 6-2-8 while I go get him!"

"Ih!"

* * *

"Asha meetso," Stitch told the white experiment as he crawled under Lilo's bed.

"I-ih," came the somewhat shaky reply. Stitch dropped the covers and started to leave.

"Hamcha…!"

"Huh-?" Stitch lift up the covers and got under the bed, having them drop when he was under it. He gasped slightly in awe as he saw 628's eyes glow faintly in the dark… they were in a worried shape and disappeared as he laid his head on the floor in shame.

"Meega naga cadu koota…" 628 said softly. Stitch lowered his gaze some and wondered what Lilo would say. He reached out and lightly touched the experiment's shoulder.

"Ika oketakka. Stitch break toilet first try too. Naga bad, Lilo not mad." 628's ears lifted some and he looked at Stitch.

"Stitch mean it," he assured the experiment and 628 blinked several times, looking slightly more relaxed.

"Stitch!" came a call from below and he looked back.

"Okay, not take long. Lilo and Stitch back soon."

"…Takka."

"Ika oketakka." And with that, he disappeared from under the bed and hurried down the elevator to the bathroom. Lilo was standing in front of it, as Jumba's big bulk occupied most of the bathroom now.

"Did you hide him?"

"Ih."

"Where Nani won't find him?"

"Yah."

"Under the bed?"

"Yep." There was a pause. "…huh?"

"That's the first place she'll look!"

"Oops!" and Stitch turned to hide 628 somewhere else but Lilo caught his shoulder.

"Wait for now, Nani won't look if she doesn't have a reason to." Stitch slapped himself on the forehead. "Injabba…" he mumbled. Duh.

"So proud of self!" Jumba spoke and Lilo jumped at his sudden words. He was placing the last finishing touches to the basin.

"Not even put destructive programming in, but experiment still destroys! Hah! Am greater than I thought!"

Lilo and Stitch glanced at each other.

"Uhm, Jumba, he just doesn't know his own strength yet."

"You not knowing what talking about."

"Ga soka about it too."

"Okay okay! Am just busy appeasing evil genius side!" And Jumba gave the pipe one last good turn.

"There. Now, just be cleaning up before Nani gets here-" SLAM.

"Stitch!" came from the outside.

All three of them gasped with a "Nani!"

"Stiiitch!" came the call again. He whimpered and played with his claws nervously.

"What meega do?" he asked Lilo nervously.

"You did nothing… just answer her."

"Okay… GABBA?" he called and moved down the hall to the front door.

"Come help me carry this stuff," came her slightly more muffled reply. Jumba quickly moved up to his and Pleakley's room.

"Okay!" came Stitch's reply.

"Stall her, Stitch! I'll get a mop!"

* * *

Moments later, Lilo walked into the kitchen and her jaw dropped at what she saw. The table was covered with shopping bags. Nani was busy looking through one of them.

"Soka…" came a voice from behind, and Lilo made way for Stitch, who was carrying several more bags which he dumped on the floor next to the table, and collapsed with them.

"Foobu…" he mumbled/whimpered.

"Did you win the lottery?" Lilo asked and walked over to the table, glancing at all the stuff around Stitch. Nani turned to her little sister and took on a 'bow before me, mortal' pose with a grin.

"No, Lilo. _I… _got a new job."

* * *

**raVen speaks:**

Boo-ha-ha!

Cliffhanger! I love the suspense! Thanks for the read, and watch out for chapter 4 soon!

-raVen


	4. Chapter 4

**raVen Speaks:**

Gotta warn you guys… the first part is kinda bloody and gruesome… Thanks for the reviews, and replies are on the bottom!

Note also, that this chapter was supposed to have a quick scene about 426 in the beginning… but it turned out to be a whole Galactic Federation-based chapter… so sorry for the delay of having you discover Nani's job! D

* * *

**Breathe**

**Chapter 4**

© by raVen

Editor: Kenjaje

* * *

Somewhere, hundreds of light-years away, there was an explosion that sent twelve percent of the space station into vacuum. The rest of the base was sealed by emergency blast doors that quickly sealed shut where they could. This was the scientific base, Aguda, orbiting a giant green/purple gas planet. The station was eight floors from bottom to top, and each floor was roughly the size of nine football fields placed in rows of three, except, of course, on the floors with the large jagged half-sphere blown out of the station's one side. On board, one word described everything. Chaos. What had exploded was one of the capacitors on floor three, in the power plant.

"Where is it?"

"Damnit! I don't know! It was over there!"

"Screw this! I'm outa here!" the front soldier, a tall and muscular brown creature with withered and dry skin yelled, dropped his plasma rifle, and ran back past the other three soldiers. They were facing a burning column of fire that was spewing from a broken door to the side. They were on the edge of the closed-off vacuum section, as beyond the door on the other side of the flames, there was only the emptiness of space.

"It's in that room…" the, now front guard, said. It was an enforcer (the red lizards in white suits, remember).

"Hah! Then it's surely dead-" the second in line spoke. A purple creature with a elongated head and tiny eyes with a nasty set of teeth where some slime was dripping from. Its limbs were unusually skinny as well as its body which had a natural hunched back,

"Haven't you been listening to the news? Not even a direct hit with a plasma-ball at point-blank can kill it!" the enforcer replied. The purple alien rose one of its clawed hands to cover its face.

"How can it survive? We are twenty foot from that fire and it's burning my-" The next moment there was a very loud thud from right next to them, and all three of the soldiers aimed their weapons at the spot in the wall… Another thud and the metal dented a bit.

"What the f-" the purple alien started, but he never finished his sentence. The next moment, with a burst of fire, the bulge broke open and something slammed into the purple alien with tremendous force, causing him and whatever had hit him, to slam into the opposite wall. He screamed and yelled as if he was being tortured in unthinkable ways. On top of him, holding him to the wall, was a hideous demonic creature… what little could be seen was the blood-red fur and the black horns protruding from its head. With both upper claws raised, it struck, the left paw cutting four hideous gashes down the side of the purple alien's long head, and the right paw destroying its face, and taking its jaw along with it, yellowish blood spurted over the creature and the floor. Through the horrified screams and screams of pain, the creature then slammed its claws into the purple alien's upper torso and pulled outwards, along with its bottom set of arms that was pinning the purple alien to the wall. With a sick 'shlirk' sound, the purple alien's upper half was torn in two. The last soldier fell over himself as he ran, and the enforcer, with the tower of flames behind him, and this horrible monstrosity in front of him, aptly decided to blow his own head off. A blood curdling howl later and-

* * *

426 fell off the crate from where he was laying with a pathetic, whimpering yell and struck the floor with an 'oof'. He quickly got up and fell back against the crate, hugging his knees to his chest. He started crying softly. He didn't believe these 'dreams' to be true… even after one such a dream he 'woke up' surrounded by dead bodies and burning wreckage. Usually he woke up on a ship headed somewhere, but that one time it was different… it was like waking up from a nightmare, to a worse nightmare. He denied it. He fought it. He failed to admit it. How could it be him? He would never hurt anyone! Even in self-defense! He sobbed loudly and bit his lip, wiping his nose. He was in the cargo-hold of a freight ship bound for a distant system. He was a tall experiment… or at least taller than Stitch. About three inches taller, but also much skinnier, not in an unhealthy way, but more in a type of physical build. The fact that his vital organs were less and smaller gave his body a slight 'hourglass' effect; large chest/upper body to a thin stomach to larger hips again. He had rabbit-like feet and his small Sparky-like ears were permanently in a downwards angle backwards. He did not have the ability to move his ears like Stitch. His head was also more egg-shaped, much like 625. His primary fur color (back/legs/head) was red, and his secondary fur color (stomach/chest/under chin) was a very light orange (On an RGB scale it would be R: 255 G:150 B:100). He had a rhombus-shaped patch of darker fur (RGB: R:200 G:0 B:0) on his elbows and three on his back, running down his spine. From the centre of each of these, a small spike protruded. The spikes on the elbows were slightly curved upwards, and only the upper set of arms had them. Also, behind each ear, a similar small white horn protruded. His claws were smaller than Stitch's. His ability was to increase his strength over a period of time but the stronger he made himself, the shorter he could stay that way.

He stood up and steeled himself. It was usually the same thing over and over; he would wonder if someone was flying the ship and then go to check only to find…

Moving through the various crates in the rectangular room, he jumped and hit the button, cringing in advance at what he might see; surely enough, he gasped and looked away. The cockpit had a large red blood-splatter to the side of the deep-sleep chambers and these smeared off to the side of the cockpit, ending at the door to the outside. Biting back vomit (afraid to see what he'd eaten should he barf), he wondered what happened to that poor soul. He jumped over the blood and climbed up onto the chair to gaze at the controls. He was headed for a small water-covered planet that had only one Federation outpost on its entire surface. Desperately, he tugged at the controls, and slammed all the buttons he could see… but to no avail… the three deep gashes across the front of the circuitry below the control-panel had disabled the entire operating system. He wept again, this time for the people on the small water planet, who were about to die, and soon fell asleep in the pilot's seat.

* * *

Somewhere on a nearby planet in the same system called Turo…

The Grand Council Woman sat in her private quarters, surveying the data-pad she had in her hand with a morbid expression as she quickly scanned over the details it was scrolling through at five pages a second. The depth of her frown would only deepen the further she got, and then the list of names of the deceased started, and the worried frown turned to that of shock, and she dropped the pad when the names had finished scrolling.

"No…" she mumbled with a quivering voice, one hand slightly holding the place on her chest where the ache was originating from. She stood up and walked to her window that had a beautiful view of Turo. The sun was setting to this part of the planetary city. She placed her hand on the window, feeling the cool glass underneath her fingertips and bowed her head, saying a silent prayer for the 32000 that had died on that station.

There was a buzzing sound from behind her.

"Vangelis?" Her eyes opened and she turned to the voice, placing her hands together. In the holographic projector beacon in the corner of her room stood another creature like the Grand Council Woman: An almost near replica, except for the skin color, which was beige, and the two protruding ridges on the top of his head, as well as the slightly broader shoulders and small difference in height.

"Andotar…" she said and quickly made her way to the projector. The expression on the male's face made her draw in breath.

"A-a ship… a ship was seen leaving the station before the explosion… it was a freighter…" he spoke and searched the Grand Council Woman's face for some reply or a solution. But her features were frozen in anticipating shock.

"A freighter belonging to a Shatchull… who died in the explosion…"

"Then-"

"Yes, Vangelis. And it's heading to _my _system! Its destination is the aquatic planet Mournall… _do you know how close that is?_" he said in a mere whisper, his voice dripping with liquid fear.

"Andotar-"

"Less than a minute's worth of hyper drive! After what he did to Strajor-; his death-toll is over 70-billion! By failing to contain that monster, you have sentenced us all to death!"

The Grand Council Woman gave several steps back, almost stumbling over herself, at the accusing ferocity of the words.

"He'll be here in two hours! I cannot evacuate an entire planet in that time, Vangelis!" Her expression changed from terrifying shock to a determined anger and her pose also changed.

"Enough!" she said loudly. Caught off-guard, Andotar did a double-take and frowned.

"What-?"

"Do not blame me for your inability to defend yourself, Councilor," she stated, suddenly formal. She was slipping in behind her mask… the façade that gave her strength. Instinctively trained military protocols that drives out all emotion and brings forth only strength and determination to rule and lead. She walked forwards till she was right in front of Andotar.

"Strajor can be restored; just as Turo was over a millennium ago."

"But what about all those lives…" Andotar said in a hopeless, barely audible voice.

"The universe is full of life… we were caught of guard on Strajor, Andotar… but not this time…" She paused. "You have two hours to prepare your defenses, while I visit the Elder's Enclave." She turned and walked for the door while Andotar's brow furrowed.

-Elder's Enclave…- he thought in his mind. He had heard those words before… long ago. Why were they causing him such distress? His eyes darted across the room as if he was searching for a visible answer.

-Elder's Enclave… It's been so long… Elder's Enc- - His head shot up, his eyes wide. The words finally hit home. She just walked out the doorway.

"Vangelis! No!" he shouted after her and the door slid shut.

"It's suicide!"

* * *

The Grand Council Woman, known to her Councilors as Vangelis, made her way down the corridor to her reception hall. Her official robes had pieces of kite-shaped cloth that hung from her arms, and these, along with the tail of her dress, dragged behind her as she walked. The automated door slid open and she entered the top of a large hall. The metal walls were decorated in a royal golden hue, and the Grand Council Woman's royal insignia hung in the form of tapestries at even spaces along the top of the oval room. She entered at the centre of the top of two bending stairways that led to the bottom floor. The front of the room had two massive blast-doors, also tinted gold, that served as the front doors of the building. In the centre of the room, right below her where she looked over the railing, was a circular table with one lone creature manning the terminals and computers there. Vangelis made her way down the left stairway, and walked up to the desk. The alien there was smaller than Stitch with an abnormally large head in comparison to its body, and two tiny eyes. It had a tan colored body with teal markings across its bald forehead. No hair was seen anywhere, and neither ears. The creature wore the royal colors of the Grand Council Woman's personal employ, as did all the personnel that worked in this part of the building. Only when Vangelis cleared her throat, did the creature look up and gasp. It immediately looked down again in an attempted bow.

"You're Excellency…!" the alien, a female, said.

"I apologize, I- I did not notice you enter-"

"Perhaps it is because you are working so hard?"

Realizing she had just been complimented on her productivity, the alien shyly lowered her gaze and shrugged.

"Well… I try, Your Excellency." Vangelis smiled in return.

"I need more people like you in my service."

"Thank you, Your Excellency." She gasped. "Uhp- how may I be of service, Excellency?" She added quickly, realizing that the Grand Council Woman would not have walked all this way from her personal quarters to have a pleasant chat.

"Cancel all my appointments for the rest of the day, Shana. And take a break."

"Yes! Of course, Your Excellency!" and she started typing immediately. Vangelis walked past the table to the back of the room to under the doors she had emerged from previously. The doors there slid open to reveal a small, dark room with two glowing white circles on the floor, and a tinted window to the right. Against the ceiling were two cone-shaped devices right above the white circles. There was also a light mist covering the floor, coming from four venting holes in the ceiling. These were disinfectants. A speaker crackled to life somewhere in the room.

"Please step on one of the circles and let's take a look at you…" Then there was a gasp.

"Your Excellency! Please forgive me, I'll open the doors immediately!" A quick static burst, and a moment later, the hydraulics on the strange door hissed and it split open horizontally in the middle. She smiled and nodded at the tinted window, then stepped through the door into a massive control room.

"Her Excellency!" a creature to the right of the door announced, and everyone in the entire room stood up. Vangelis motioned for them to be seated and walked down the stairs to the lower control area. (They were in the room from the first movie, where she ran in and screamed "Where is he!")

"Bring up Jumba's monster…" she said as she stood behind one of the front controllers.

"Yes, Excellency." She closed the programs she was working with and typed a few commands. They zoomed in on what seemed empty space… but soon, the floating debris of the recently destroyed space station.

"Where is… Aguda?"

"That is Aguda," Vangelis replied. There were several gasps and screams all around.

"Where are the survivors?" came an informal shout of a nearby tall, purple alien as it stood up.

"There are a total of 44 survivors. She was not one of them."

"…_NO!_" The creature lunged at the Grand Council Woman and she turned to face him just as several people restrained him inches away from her steady and calm face.

"It is a time of great despair we are in; a time of darkness."

"She was my life-mate!" the creature snarled into her face.

"Then take some time off to reflect on your pain. If you feel you cannot return, then take a cruiser and chase this creature in your blinded hatred of it." She closed her eyes. "Remove him." The alien did not resist as they dragged him from the control room.

"Where did he go?" Vangelis questioned as if nothing had happened. Wide eyed, the little alien quickly turned around and typed.

"There!" she said after a few seconds. A purple trail of particles led off into the distance.

"Trace it."

"Yes, Excellency… Aha! There's the moving continuum breach… that means the ship… must be only several kilometers ahead of the camera's current position."

"Where is this?"

"Calculating… the closest body mass is the Medium Blue T dash 7313 star… Uthxixa system."

There was a pause as Vangelis mulled this over.

"How far is he from Mournall?"

"Mournall, Your Excellency? As in, Councilor Andotar's system?"

"Yes."

"Calculating…" There was another pause.

"An hour and fifty-three minutes, standard time…" The little alien frowned and tilted her head.

"Yes?" Vangelis questioned.

"That seems to be the planet he's heading to, as well. How did you know, if I may ask, Your Excellency?"

"You know how paranoid Councilor Andotar can be. He was probably keeping a closer eye on Aguda than its own security systems."

"Oh… why… why didn't we act, Excellency? We knew the rogue experiment was heading towards to station after what happened at Strajor… Why didn't we evacuate the station?"

"Because I ordered them to stay until the experiment had arrived, and then evacuate after activating the station's self-destruct option … but the experiment destroyed the escape pods' launching procedure control center after impacting with the station… The only survivors were the 44 members of the survey team who were taking samples on the planet below. They managed to send an alert signal to battleship Servos, who was patrolling with Defense Fleet 21 in the asteroid field nearby."

Everyone had been listening intently, and when Vangelis stopped talking, the furious typing suddenly started up again and everyone pretended to be working.

"But why not simply set the self-destruct to a certain time and then evacuate?"

"Because then the experiment would not have landed on the station. Remember that it has the mind of a supercomputer… and as we have seen with those that fled Strajor… the experiment had gunned down all the escaping ships that it could find after the destruction of the planet. Aguda was not a planet, and had everyone started fleeing, they would have run straight into the experiment's firing range."

"What are we going to do, Your Excellency?"

"I have an idea. It's a long shot… but worth a try…" and she walked back up the stairs where she paused and turned around. Everyone was looking at her, waiting for her to explain what she was planning. She gave them an annoyed look and waved them off.

"Go on, then! Back to work!" And with wide eyes, everyone quickly turned around and continued working. The Grand Council Woman smiled and left the control room.

* * *

"Shana?"

"Yes, Your Excellency?" the tan alien at the receptionist's desk answered, alert.

"Please have Experiment 600 come to my personal quarters immediately."

"At once, Your Excellency…" She moved to do what was asked of her.

"And I need your advice on something."

The little alien almost fell off her chair.

"_My _advice?" she stuttered. "You honor me, Excellency! But surely, what could I possibly know?"

"This might be a long shot… but I've thought about it before and checked up on several historical accounts… do you know the great archivist Ishnea?"

"…Why… why yes, I do… She is an ancestor of mine… believed to have been in the service of the Sentinels… millennia ago…"

"Then did you know she was a personal assistant to Sentinel Taloria, whose blood flows through my veins?"

It took a few moments for the importance of this information to sink in.

"Wow… so, I'm fated, in a way, to serve you now, as my ancestors served yours then… forgive my confusion, Excellency, but… does this have anything to do with the fact that you have been chosen as Grand Council Woman for over three centuries?"

"That is just it, Shana. I was not chosen. Do you know how old I am?"

"No, Your Excellency… but it is a well known fact that Dweanor have been known to age to well over five hundred standard years…" The Grand Council Woman smiled and bent forward.

"Taloria was my mother…" she said softly and looked into Shana's shocked lightning-blue eyes with a chuckle. She stood back up as the massive blast doors opened. Soon, a very fat, scaly and green alien with three eyes and tentacles all over its head, came waddling in… it was wearing a cheap tuxedo and its hands were covered in jewelry.

"Aha!" it bellowed and the Grand Council Woman tilted her head in disgust.

"May I help you?" Shana asked and looked as helpful as she could.

"In a moment, dear. Grand Council Woman! Very rarely are you seen outside your quarters, or not busy with some important task…"

"Are you implying that I am not doing my work?"

"Hardly. Just saying that you spend most of your time in your personal quarters… and then you appear at important meetings without actually leaving the building…" The Grand Council Woman glared at the alien.

"Have you dipped so low, Spieyev? Spying on the Grand Council Woman… I could have you incarcerated for-"

"Have your scientists developed teleportation, 'Your Excellency'? How else can you explain being in your office one moment, and the next, appearing on television on the other side of the planet with-?"

"Enough!" Vangelis had clenched her right fist and lifted it in front of her chest as he spoke, and then waved it back to her side as she spoke for emphasis

"You walk a thin line, Spieyev… I'm watching you …" she said in a threatening tone. The fat alien smiled back.

'And I've been watching you for some time, my darling…' he thought to himself, not dare saying it out loud.

"I expect her in my room, shortly," Vangelis told Shana and proceeded up the stairs back to her quarters. Shana quickly pressed a few buttons and a few seconds later, a confirmation beep was heard from the console.

"So, how may I assist you?" she tried again. He chuckled and stated his business.

* * *

**raVen speaks:**

Surprise! I gave the Grand Council Woman a name! And revealed some of my plot.

HeMeleNoLiloLover: You'll have to wait for the next chapter D

Ri2: 628 isn't a normal experiment… but yeah, that's what everyone's aiming for.

Ecliptic: I can only picture how embarrassing it was ; Wait for the next chapter for the new job.

Lauren: Leroy and Stitch! Etto… nandeska?

Thanks for reading everyone! And stay tuned for chapter 5!

-raVen


	5. Chapter 5

**raVen speaks:**

I show y'all 628's power in this chapter, and as well as Nani's new job.

Thanks for all of you that read so far, and many thanks for those who reviewed as well.

Stay tuned.

* * *

**Breathe**

**Chapter 5**

© by raVen

Editor: Kenjaje

* * *

"Manager?" Lilo said, with confusion.

"Yip. And he gave me a little money to help with the job-transition… I believe mister Ko'ikini won't pay me my full salary at the end of this month once he learned of my new job."

"But you told me he was a vampire!" Lilo suddenly said and looked at Stitch, who was still lying under the bags, his ears tilted on full attention.

"Well, he's probably moving to a place where there's less sun..." Nani said with a wave of her hand.

"… Yeah! Like Alaska!" Nani laughed and rolled her eyes. Lilo paused and let the thought of actually having some money run through her head.

"So it's back to the luau, huh?" she said, as if hearing herself say it would convince her.

"Yeah… I'll be working much shorter hours on weekdays, but longer on weekends-can you give me that bag?" Lilo picked up a bag with soap and other cleaning stuff in it and handed it to Nani, who placed it on the table and started unpacking.

"Oh, come on, Stitch. I thought you were supposed to be indestructible, or something," Nani huffed when she noticed him under the bags. Lilo giggled as he groaned in reply. Nani lifted on of the bags on Stitch and looked inside. She handed it to Lilo.

"Please go and put these things in the bathroom."

"Okay… come Stitch!"

"Okay…" he replied and crawled out from under the bags to follow her.

"Wow… this is really good for us, you know…" Lilo said as they walked into the toilet.

"Gabba?"

"Nani's so happy, she'll probably completely forget about our deal on you behaving… if she stays in such a good mood, maybe we can even introduce 6-2-8 to her!" she said enthusiastically, but then both of them stopped, looked at each other, and dismissed that thought with a 'Naaah…' and walked into the bathroom. Lilo got up on the toilet with the toilet-spray and toilet-rolls and placed them in the small cupboard above it, while Stitch put away the toothpaste and mouthwash, hand-soap and headache tablets into the cabinet above the wash-basin.

"Go check on him while I finish up here," Lilo said as she got the last items from the bag.

"Oketakka…" Stitch replied and quickly hurried out the door and up the stairs and elevator to their room.

"Cousin?" Stitch asked and peered under the bed… but his heart missed a beat… 628 was gone!

"Kocha-bon-kami?" he called softly, and sniffed the air… and it led him to look up at one of the windows. He gasped; the window was open… He quickly scuttled up the wall to peer outside, and sighed in relief as he found 628 just outside the window, staring at the ocean over the trees to the back of the house.

"Boootifaa…" 628 said in awe at what he saw.

"Ju nikka ogata?"

"Miga vachoo… Wangata moopatakka… Morcheeba ika wanga…" he said, and took a lungful of air in through his nose and breathed out slowly with a look of bliss. Stitch also drew in a few sniffs, smelling the nature around them, the salty smell of the ocean nearby, flowers, birds, smell of autumn on its way, pine cones and herbs, the grass and the essences of nature… he was used to this by now… but to 628 it must be something special.

"Miga know is nice… but ju naga neesta to miga… must stay in room or qatta nokka bishta shi tokku. Ju nikka ikki baka-dooka… Lilo kill me if that happens…" Stitch said, and shook his head, thinking of the horrors that would befall him… 628 gasped and quickly looked around.

"Soka!" he said quickly and hurried past Stitch into the room. He hurried under the bed again and laid quite still. Stitch calmly got down from where he was still clinging to the wall, and also got under the bed. 628 eyed him with a concerned look.

"Hungry?" Stitch asked after a few moments of quietness.

"Huh?" came the reply.

"Oh yah…" Stitch said and shook his head… 628 didn't know what hungry felt like… but in the silence of the room, there was a low growl and a surprised yip from 628. Stitch smiled at his cousin's surprised look as 628 reached for his stomach. Stitch pointed at 628's stomach. "628 hungry," he said. 628 blinked quickly and looked down at his stomach.

"Hm… need food make hungry go away…" Stitch explained further.

"6-2-6!" came a call from the elevator… it was Jumba.

"Ih?" he called back.

"Be coming to room… with 6-2-8."

"Oketakka! Iki…" he said and motioned for 628 to follow him, quickly disappearing from under the bed. 628 looked up and then to his left, where the window should be, and got up reluctantly, crawling out from under the bed. Stitch was waiting for him next to the elevator with a slight grin.

"Iki!" he said again and motioned.

"Aga-" 628 replied but stopped and rubbed his upper left arm with his upper right, and with his bottom set behind his back.

"Gabba?" Stitch asked.

"Soka… miga naga neesta ta ju…" 628 said and Stitch smiled.

"Is oketakka… is just… we not normal here…" Stitch blinked, trying to get the right words.

"Scare people, if people see…" he continued. 628 was confused.

"Jumba tell. Iki!"

"Ih." And he scuttled closer slowly onto the elevator with Stitch and stood up. As they rode the elevator down, 628 glanced at Stitch's body and at his own… but before he could think further of the subject, they hit the bottom and Stitch glanced around the corner.

"Makka sa-sa!" he said and grabbed 628's paw, who grabbed Stitch's paw back by reflex, and Stitch dragged him up to Jumba's room. Jumba closed the door behind them as they came in and rubbed his hands together eagerly.

"Listen carefully." He said… it was like a greeting to him by now.

"Having being prepared group of exercises to test 6-2-8."

"Miga?" he questioned as he heard his name.

"Yes… now, will be doing tests with 6-2-6 to determine how you rate." Stitch grinned and 628 gasped. He looked at Stitch, and a nervous spot tugged at his stomach. What if he wasn't good enough? What if he didn't live up to his creator's expectations? Jumba saw the expression and chuckled.

"What is feeling now is nervousness. But no need to be feeling scared in any sort. Real tests only coming tomorrow. Today just see how stack up against 6-2-6."

"Hah!" Stitch barked and mumbled some incoherent things, bouncing with eagerness.

"Forgive him, is being excitement to break boredom…" Jumba told 628 as he stared at Stitch's weird behavior.

"Okay, be leaving through window, and will be finding you behind house."

"Ih!"

"Ih…"

Stitch quickly crawled up the wall and out the window as Jumba walked out the door. 628 gaped at this and then at the height of the window.

"Hamcha!" he yelled and jumped to try and catch the edge of the window, but it was slightly higher than he could jump.

"Haaamcha!" he yelled again, and jumped once more, but something occurred that he didn't quite get, and he hurled himself against the ceiling. He screamed as he felt gravity pull at him, and he closed his eyes, expecting to feel the thud of the floor in a few moments… then he opened an eye, and saw the world inverted… opening the other one, he found himself clinging to the ceiling. Stitch's head popped through the window just then, scanning the floor.

"Cousin?"

"Meetso…" 628 answered in a quivering voice and Stitch looked up.

"Ah! Iki! Jumba waiting!"

"Ashta!" Stitch did a double take and scratched his head… Stuck? How stuck?

"Uh, just iki… walk, like on floor…"

628 looked down at his appendages… his claws pierced the ceiling ever so slightly, and his feet were planted flat against it.

"Oke-takka…" he said slowly and lifted his upper right hand and moved it forward, once more grabbing hold of the ceiling, he continued to do so with his other appendages, and pondered as he felt the same sticking force with his feet, but there were no claws penetrating the roof… a few moments later, he came to the corner and paused again… this was slightly more difficult that a flat inverted surface… Once more he placed his upper-right paw against the wall, and then the rest followed. Gravity shifted once again and he stared at the floor. With a little more confidence, he crawled through the open window and to the outside world again, grinning all the way.

"Meega doota!" he yelled happily and looked at Stitch that gave him a little applaud.

"Koota!" Stitch complimented and 628 laughed, amazed at this incredible feeling he was experiencing now.

"6-2-8 happy now," Stitch explained as he watched look over his body with a curious smile.

"Now iki! Maka-maka sa-sa!"

"Ih!"

"Phew… never seen us having so much stuff… ever…" Lilo mumbled and placed the last box of cereal in the cupboard, closing it and jumping off the chair.

"Thanks… Here, this is for the week…" and Nani handed her a $5 note. She looked at it with a long drawn out 'Wooooow'… and Nani ruffled her hair.

"Okay, I gotta get back to work…" she said and glanced at her watch with a gasp. She grabbed her jacket off the arm of the sofa and ran out the door.

"Later Lilo!" Lilo waved at the wall, not even really noticing Nani had left.

"Nani must think this is an investment in my future…" she told herself and spread the note out against the light from the window, making sure it's not a fake.

"Hmm… what does she want from me…?" she asked herself and walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the elevator.

"Look like I was right… She has forgotten all about our deal… oh well! Five bucks! What am I gonna buy?" she asked rhetorically, quickly changing her tone.

"Are you okay, 6-2-8?" she asked after hiding the five bucks in one of her books, and lifted up the covers of the bed to look underneath. She gasped.

"6-2-8! Oh no… he ran off!" she said and quickly searched to room for the white experiment.

"6-2-8!" she yelled again, and then ran and took the elevator down.

"Stitch? Where's 6-2-8!" she yelled and ran into the TV room… then paused.

"Stitch?" she called again… then placed one and one together. 628 must probably be with Stitch… and Stitch is probably showing him stuff. She walked through the house, checking all the rooms for the two of them. They were probably outside… She walked out the front door and scanned the area in front of their house, and then walked once around it, to find the odd group in the clearing to the side off the house, just a bit away from Jumba's ship. Jumba was talking actively with his computer in his one hand, swinging his arm and what, while the other two sat obediently at his feet.

"There you are!" she called and the trio looked at her.

"Nani's left for work, so I guess it's okay to show 628 around now…" she said as she got closer.

"What're you guys doing out here anyways?"

"Is going to be running some tests on 6-2-8. Not too much… Just standard reaction tests and so on."

"Oh… can I watch?"

"Of course!"

"Okay!" she said and took up a seat on a nearby rock.

"Right. First test would be scent. Have hidden two objects in area. Want you to find them." Jumba typed something on his computer.

"… go!" and he pressed a button. Immediately, Stitch began to sniff the air and 628 followed suit. Stitch, nose high in the air, let his legs follow him around as he eagerly searched. 628 simply sat and sniffed… First, there is a whole big smell… then there's two smells, artificial and natural… he sniffed some more and tilted and turned his head as he did so… grass… the moist ground… trees… the little native and Jumba… his own nervous sweat… then… then there was something odd, in the distance, like a small red thread in a rope… he untangled it and pulled at it, and he moved; his legs following. He stopped every now and then to sniff once more and finally, he was sure of its destination…

"Booto!" Stitch yelled from the distant underbrush and held up a sock. 628 looked over and lowered his ears in defeat.

"Excellent, 6-2-6! 22 seconds is new record!" Jumba said and typed some more.

"Isa really stinky sock…" Stitch replied and held his nose.

"6-2-8?" Jumba said and looked at him. "Why waiting? Get object!" His ears shot up and he quickly hurried over to a spot in the clearing, glanced at his claws, and started digging a hole.

"What-?" Jumba asked but decided to keep quiet. A moment later, 628 pulled out a dirty black plastic bag with something in it and caught his breath. Jumba scratched his head and looked at his computer.

"That's where I buried those!" Lilo yelled and ran over. She opened the black bag and gasped in delight as she pulled out several girls magazines. Both Stitch and Jumba walked over to look.

"Lilo read?" Stitch asked, confused… Lilo wasn't one for girly things…

"Huh? No! These are Myrtle's, remember?" Stitch's eyes stretched with recognition.

"Ooooh yah! Show and tell!"

"After Easter, yeah! You took them when she made fun of Scrump!" She looked at them with a devilish laugh. "Now I can ransom them back to her!"

"Hehahaheheaa!" Stitch laughed evilly as well.

"Well… not being expected… other object was actually other sock in jungle over there…" 628's ears lowered again. "But… have to give credit for finding harder-to-find object in ground." He made some more notes on his computer.

"Right… next test!" Jumba said and both of them gave him their full attention as Lilo dragged the bag back over to the rock, and sat down once more. Jumba typed something once more.

"Now, be counting dots," he said and turned the computer around. Stitch's eyes darted over the screen, and 628 tilted his head.

"329!" Stitch yelled while 628 slowly drew in breath and then his ears lowered again.

"Ih… isa 329…" he said afterwards. Jumba turned his computer around and did some more typing.

"Okay, okay. Not feeling bad, remember, only emerging recently…" 628 looked up at Jumba. "6-2-6 has been using abilities for very long now."

"Ih… jinja-chee…" Stitch agreed and gave 628 a playful push against the shoulder. His ears rose some and so did his mood.

"Now, next test. Come over here." And Jumba walked to the other side of the clearing from where Lilo was sitting.

"Speed. Be running and touching rock little girl is on, and back to line here." Jumba used his foot to draw a line in front of him.

"Now, line up behind it, and wait for go." He typed once more. Stitch lowered to the ground and had his lower set of arms emerge. 628 gasped at this.

"Ju bashita okka?" Stitch sat up and looked down at his bottom pair of hands.

"Ih…"

"Ika tooki nee hi? Gadja uga taba?"

"Uh…" he lifted his upper hands and pulled in his bottom arms again… and then had them emerge once more. He shrugged with a confused mumble.

"Get ready!" Jumba reminded them, and Stitch got down into his stance again… 628 observed him, and did similar.

"…go!" And both of them rocketed away from the line… it wasn't difficult to see who was winning… Stitch did a summersault and kicked off the rock Lilo was sitting on to vault back in the opposite direction past 628, who, while staring in awe at Stitch, crashed into the rock with a whimper, cracking it and causing Lilo to yell… He proceeded to limp slightly back to the finishing line, where Stitch was gasping for breath. Slowing to a near walk, 628 crossed the line, and held his injured soldier, breathing quickly through his clenched teeth.

"6-2-8!" came Lilo's concerned call.

"Ah… is experiencing pain now… lift arm… now flex paw…" Jumba said. 628 did as he was told, and his knees gave way as he flexed his paw… the pain slightly overwhelming him.

"Hold still…" Jumba said with earnest, and held 628's injured arm, also holding him up.

"Move paw…" Once more 628 did so, biting on his teeth, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Okay… at least not out of socket."

"Is he okay?" Lilo said as she ran closer.

"Will be fine… just squeezed nerve when hit rock… 6-2-8… observed that you did not use lower set of arms as much as could… but it will be easier in time. Remember feeling of pain, and being avoiding it. It is body telling you that be doing something stupid… Hmm…" Jumba paused for a few moments while Lilo gave a reluctant 628's shoulder a little massage.

"Concentrate on pain, 6-2-8… force it with mind to be calming down…" 628 tilted his head, but moved away from Lilo, and did as he was told. He focused on the throb in his shoulder and imagined his mind covering it like a thick liquid… he gasped as he was not breathing, and noticed that the pain had not disappeared, but lessened to a far more bearable level. Jumba laughed when he saw the rock was almost split in half.

"Impact would certainly have broken bone of normal creature… at least I did job good there…"

* * *

After a few moments of rest, Jumba gathered the two experiments around him.

"Okay. Last test: Powers." Jumba walked off to the side and drew a circle.

"Now. Will be fighting each other." 628's jaw dropped in disbelief, and even Stitch looked at Jumba with concern.

"No to be worrying, only friendly sparring match… whoever knocks other out of ring, will be winning." 628 glanced nervously at Stitch, who had his eyebrows raised, pondering the outcome of this situation.

"May be using any means possible. Go." Stitch walked to the circle and 628 followed with a sinking feeling… he had rather sucked so far…

"Kita makuta?" Stitch asked as soon as they entered the ring.

"I-ih…" 628 replied in a little voice. His heart was barely beating.

"Miga also… a little…" Stitch confessed with a smile. 628 gave a meek smile back, his spirits lifting a little… at least he wasn't the only one scared…

"Okay… get ready…" Stitch dropped into his battle-stance… his body facing his opponent, back-spines and antennae out, and arms to his sides, claws at the ready… he wore a determined look on his face. 628 leaned back slightly, his left side facing Stitch, and both his left arms up to shield himself.

"Go!" Jumba said and Stitch jumped, 628 gasped, and forgot to continue shielding himself… Stitch's upper-right paw came down… hard, and he slashed 628 across his right cheek.

"Agaa!" sounded the whimpering yelp. 628 hit the ground, still within the circle, and tears streamed down his cheeks as he sat up. Stitch slammed his paw over his mouth and stared at the paw that had struck 628. Three red lines ran down his cheek, a small trickle of blood matting the fur around the bottom-most cut, staining his white fur red. Lilo also stood in shocked silence, and Jumba only watched.

"Soka!" Stitch yelled and approached 628 to help him up…

628's eyes narrowed and he bit on his teeth… something happened. The pain was fueling something in his heart… An odd sensation filled his hands.

"Grrraaaa!" 628 yelled and thrust his upper-right hand at Stitch… an invisible force struck him head on and he was knocked off-balance, causing him to stumble to the edge of the circle, and in one last struggle of balance, he lost and landed on his furry behind just on the line. There were gasps and yells from Lilo and Jumba. Both experiments were on their feet at the same time, but the shear aggression in 628's stance made Stitch hesitate.

"Uga taba!" 628 yelled, and thrust both his upper hands at Stitch… this time, a swirling mass of air seemed to erupt from around 628 and hurled itself at Stitch, who was swept off his feet and sent tumbling through the air, right across the clearing, and crashing to the trees on the other side of it. Immediately snapping out of his trance, 628 noticed what he just did … but something was terribly wrong… he couldn't breathe…! Gasping and gaping, he turned to Jumba, who was yelling at him, and Lilo had already run to check on Stitch. He felt something on his lip, and he pressed a finger against it. Feeling something wet, he drew back his paw to see pink blood on his finger… he convulsed just then and everything went blurry… He went deaf in his left ear, and soon after, all was black.

* * *

**raVen speaks:**

Love them cliffhangers! I re-uploaded the whole story, with minor spelling fixes everywhere, as well as adding my editor's name. Kenjaje! You ROCK!

To my reviewers:

Ri2: Oh, you better believe the Grand Council Woman has secrets. Stay tuned, you've seen nothing yet.

Ecleptic: Then stay tuned for chapter seven. There's going to be a big battle scene.

X636: Thanks for reading :D

Heleme…: Stay tuned :P

Thanks for reading, once again, everyone, and stay tuned! This is still gonna get reeeaaly much more interesting! Reviews greatly appreciated, as always. Till next week! Ciao!

-raVen


	6. Chapter 6

**raVen speaks:**

So this chapter is literally the 'calm before the storm'. And sorry for the lateness with the post, as I had some work that had to be done. Thanks, once again, for all the reviewers, and all those who read these.

Stay tuned for episode 6, and enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

© by raVen

Editor: Kenjaje

* * *

Stitch coughed and used his bottom set of arms to lift the branch that was pinning him down off of him. He pushed himself up with his upper pair and let the branch drop… he stumbled around a little, his sense of balance shot to hell. He leaned against a tree with an 'Ooooh…' and shook his head. 

"_Stitch!_" came Lilo's call as she pushed through the leaves and bushes. She saw him leaning against a tree and ran closer with a gasp.

"You're okay!" she said and grasped him in a hug.

"Yah… miga Stitch...!" he managed to get out. Lilo let go and looked him over. He was a little covered in dust but there were no visible injuries.

"What… happened?" he asked and held his head, which slowly stopped spinning.

"6-2-8 did something… I don't know; he just blew you off…"

"Ehh… is 6-2-8 power…"

"Jumba never said what his power was… except that his function was to destroy rogue experiments, or something. Let's go."

"Gabba bakka-dooka?" Stitch asked as they moved back to the clearing.

"Hm… we'll have to ask Jumba why." They both stopped when they saw the clearing was empty.

"Where Jumba?"

"The tests are over, they probable went in…" Lilo said, but something felt weird… They continued on to the house and to Jumba's room… but there was no-one there.

"Jumba?" Lilo called and Stitch sniffed around.

"Not here…" he said.

"Where'd they go? Stitch?" He quickly scuttled down the stairs, his nose to the floor, he moved around the living room and into the kitchen and then back to where Lilo was waiting at the base of the stairs.

"Jumba not in house… maybe in ship."

"Why would they go to the ship? Unless-… How bad did you hurt him?" Stitch looked down at the question.

"Stitch maybe hurt very bad if 6-2-8 not move… but moved and Stitch only scratch…"

"Why'd you hit so hard? You just had to get him out of the circle…"

"Jumba say not even Stitch beat bad cousin… but new cousin can… so Stitch think new cousin stronger than Stitch-"

"So you pulled out all the stops, eh?"

"Ih… Stitch soka…"

"It's okay, I understand… but you said you only scratched him, right?"

"Yah…"

"Then why'd they go to the ship?" Lilo asked, confused and moved to the door. Stitch followed. They quickly jogged the distance to the ship in the bushes and the door was already open.

* * *

"Nooooo… what have I done?" Jumba said to himself as stood over 628's unconscious body. He had acted just in the nick-of-time… any longer and 628 might have died, or have been locked in a semi-conscious brain-dead sleep for the rest of his existence. They were in the same small room that birthed 628, and 628 was on the table, several tubing attached to his face once more. Jumba moved to the observation room, and rummaged through his drawers to bring forth a hand-held device that looked much like a metal-detector. He connected it remotely to the monitoring station and walked back to 628. He turned on the device, and it emanated a red laser-screen on one side. Jumba held it above 628's head, and slowly moved it down his body, and back to the top. There was a quick beep from the observation room, and Jumba turned off the device, eagerly moving to scan the results.

* * *

"Jumba?" Lilo called as they walked through the antechamber. 

"Eh-eh!" Stitch said and jabbed a claw at the door to the back. They hurried in and saw Jumba deep in concentration.

"Jumba?"

"BAAAH!" he yelled and jumped up. He saw the two of them standing there. He relaxed and wiped his forehead.

"Do not be sneaking up on me like that!"

"Sorry! We were just wondering where you went… where's 6-2-8…" Jumba pointed through the window with a stern face. Lilo frowned and Stitch gazed between her face and the window. Lilo ran around to the other room and gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth.

"6-2-8! What happened!" she yelled and ran to the table, standing on her toes to try and get a better look; then got on the chair near it. She was tall enough now to slightly raise her head above 628. She frowned at the tubing and wondered why he was lying so still. She wanted to touch him but hesitated, afraid she might hurt him.

"Jumba! What's wrong with him?" she yelled. Stitch had also entered but he had jumped onto the table itself and was sitting on the edge at the feet, staring with a concerned and guilty expression at 628.

"He is be suffering minor brain-damage after what being doing to 6-2-6… Will being okay…" Jumba assured her. Lilo breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to stare at 628.

"What happened?" she asked loudly.

"… Not being sure…" Jumba replied and quickly read something.

"Seems that as 6-2-8's power being telekinesis, that meaning moving objects with mind, and as he never being used power before, be over-exerting ability, and be injuring brain… Hopefully will not being happening again… only first time-effect, and symptoms not seem to be too severe." Lilo nodded, understanding somewhat. Stitch was looking even more relieved, though, as he realized that it was not because of him that his cousin was in this condition.

* * *

Shapes… strange, moving shapes … Then a white creature… small white creature walks from the darkness. There is an amazing air of determined resolve about him… but also the air of a great burden… his fur moved with the strong wind… and then fire. There were flames… flames from where the creature came. And then… in front of the creature appeared a large and dark figure… a monster… the dark monster charged at the little white creature… Lookout! No, wait… The little creature has raised his hand… and the black figure had stopped in its tracks. It was floating slightly off the ground… 

"I'm sorry." The words of the little creature penetrated the eerie, gloomy atmosphere that surrounded them… and as the little white creature turned its hand around, and formed a fist, the larger creature screamed in agony… it was horrible… terrible… it's shriek tore through the darkness… and everything faded… then there were people… many people, lying on the ground… They didn't move… their faces were white… they were strewn about over the endless dark floor like sticks that were dropped from some very high place… and in the distant darkness… a figure walked, bearing forward… a small white creature… its face twisted into a smile…

* * *

628 slowly became aware of his surroundings… a beeping… and he opened his eyes. Frowning and blinking, he soon sat up and rubbed his head. There was a dull throb to the right side of his head making him close his right eye instinctively. 

"Anghh…" he groaned and looked around. It was dark, but he recognized the room as the one he was in before… whenever that was. He looked around and noticed he was lying on a platform. He moved to climb down from the platform… but his lower hands wouldn't respond… He looked down and stared in shock. They were gone! He lifted his upper hands and glanced around franticly, but… they were gone! He lowered his arms and frowned once more… there was an odd sensation… it was weird; he could still feel his lower arms, but they weren't there… he lift his arms once more and tried to push outwards with the lower set, and they emerged from his sides. His expression twisted and grew exceedingly unpleasant till the arms were completely out. He sat still for a few moments… Now _that_ was an uncomfortable experience… feeling bones and cartilage move around inside you was not something funny…it made his stomach churn and sent shivers down his spine. But he was curious how he'd done it… Just like Stitch did. He pulled in the lower arms… but that didn't seem to work… they had somehow locked in place. Frowning a bit more as he concentrated, he could pop out the arms from whatever joint or socket they locked into and then pull them in… With a sickening sound, he did so, and pulled the arms in, once more experiencing that sickening feeling… he was sure he'd get used to it, and wanted to experiment with moving about with them inside his body. He moved to the edge of the table, and jumped down, losing his balance, and falling backwards… yes, now that the extra weight was centered to his back, his centre of gravity was off. He got down on all fours and started to move, but this made him somewhat uncomfortable. It placed a strain on his back now that his limbs were in. Instead, he got up on two legs, and walked around some… he liked it! He didn't have to look up at everything and he didn't have to focus on coordinating so many limbs to the right places either! Okay… at least he didn't have to look up at the really low stuff anymore… but he still pretty much looked up at everything else… He wondered what to do… would Jumba have had him stay here? Or would it be okay to look around a bit? He decided that the ship was still okay, but outside was off-limits.

Outside.

Suddenly, the events of what had happened with Stitch came flooding in and his jaw dropped. In his anger, he had somehow hurled Stitch out of the circle… no, not just out of the circle… he had hurled him right into the native plant-life! He could be seriously hurt! He nervously rubbed his palms together and looked around. Deciding, he quickly ran from the room, through the observation room and into the large computer room with the large screen… It was mostly dark. He aimed for the door leading to the outside, but noticed a light up front… it was coming from the stairs leading to the cockpit above… And there were some voices… He quickly made his way up there and noticed Jumba sitting in the pilot's chair, staring at a screen above him that had various figures on it. Jumba had an amused grin on his face.

"Nikishta?" 628 said and Jumba gasped, quickly turning off the TV.

"Am working!" he said, grabbing a nearby spanner and quickly turning to the stairs. He noticed 628.

"Huh-? 628! Ah you are finally being awake!" Jumba said and laughed, coming around to pick the little creature up.

"How be feeling?"

"Hanitokka..."

"Hah! I'm surprised! Was only supposed to be gaining consciousness tomorrow… come we must be testing-"

"Shiona tikotto nanikko oukataka Sta-Stitch?"

"Wha-6-2-6? Heheh! He is being fine! Taking more than hurling at inanimate objects to be hurting 6-2-6," Jumba said proudly.

"Iondotta kiaro shienjestikka…?"

"Why, that was your power, 6-2-8… you having ability to control objects with mind… very powerful indeed!" They had walked down the stairs and into the observation room.

"It is also being good thing that had not been directly handling 6-2-6…"

"Hatto?" 628 questioned as they walked into the other room. Jumba placed 628 on the table once more.

"Well… powers being untrained; unfocussed. Being good have handled air around you and not 6-2-6 directly, or might have seriously caused damage!"

"Hatto anotodda..." 628 said again, frowning. Jumba sighed, looked around, and found a bunch of small metal containers on the floor by the door. He held it up on his hand.

"Okay, 6-2-8. Be making object move…"

"Ehh… hanitokka…" he said and tried to remember what he had done earlier that day. He drew back his arm, and thrust it at Jumba, sending a wave of telekinetic energy moving through the air. Not only did it knock the container of Jumba's hand, but it almost knocked Jumba off his feet! He laughed and picked up the container after he regained his balance.

"Good, but trying to be picking up object, and lifting it off hand…" Jumba said once again. 628 frowned, and tried to do so. But the container just slightly moved a little backwards.

"Hm… okay, picture self picking up object in mind…" Jumba said and looked at the container. 628 tilted head, and nodded. He pictured himself taking the object… and he did so; he lift his hand and made a grabbing motion. Immediately, a massive force seemed to slam into the canister from all sides, crushing it into a near paper-thin plate of metal. At seeing this, he flinched and pulled back his hand. Jumba also gaped. He took the former, now flat, container and held it between two fingers.

"Seeing what I mean… could have been 6-2-6…" 628 gasped and put his paws over his mouth. That would not have been a pretty sight. Jumba shook his head and threw the flat piece of metal away, and moved to get the hand-held device of earlier. He activated it, and connected it to the terminal once more. He walked back to 628.

"Be laying down… will only take second." 628 lied down, and Jumba ran the scanner over him again. It left behind a ticklish, tingling sensation, and he giggled. Jumba gave him a weird look and shook his head, moving back to the observation room after the beep sounded. 628 assumed he could follow, and he got off the table and walked back to Jumba. Jumba checked a few settings on the screen and shrugged.

"Bah, be looking fine to me!" There was a loud growl and Jumba looked down at 628, who was looking down at his stomach uncomfortably.

"Oh my! Have not being eating since released from tank!" Jumba said.

"Be coming, time to be having first meal!"

* * *

As they exited the plane, 628 immediately noticed the massive change in surroundings… everything was dark, to begin with, and also much, much more quieter… some creature, or insect, or animal was making a constant chirping/creaking noise somewhere… and there were little lights that filled the sky… and the sun had become less bright, and rounder… and white… or that was a completely different celestial entity. 

"Is being the earth's moon… err, the moon." Jumba was used to calling Turo's moons by their names when he introduced them to the new experiments… but this wasn't Turo, was it?

"Hattonna-da?" 628 asked and pointed a claw at the stars.

"Those are being suns of other systems… or 'stars'."

"Aah…" But another growl of his stomach reminded them of what they were doing, and they moved on through the bushes, back to the house.

"Now… remember little girl?" 628 nodded.

"She has bigger sister… and bigger sister not supposed to be knowing about you…"

"Hatcha?"

"See… Lilo be given job to be finding true places for all of evil-genius experiments… but this be mostly pre-600 model experiments, who are primarily hormone and instinct-driven… Bigger sister agreeing with idea, so long as be doing it before dark, and be doing it quickly, so no extra experiments around house… Nani be having problem with earth-currency until recent climbing of proverbial ladder representing occupancy."

628 nodded, understanding somewhat.

"So, be holding on here, for to be seeing where bigger earth girl is…" 628 nodded again, and Jumba went into the house. He took this moment to check if his bottom set of arms were still there, and he could feel them, tucked away somewhere near his back.

* * *

Soon enough, Jumba had appeared once more, and waved the white experiment to come in. The house was dark, and it was very quiet… 628 wondered where everyone was and followed Jumba to the kitchen. Jumba placed several plastic bowls into a device that lit up when he pressed a few buttons on it. 628 found the device was giving off some sort of wave… non-harmful to living material, at least from where he was standing… but Jumba also seemed unaffected, so it must only be on the inside then. When he took out the bowl, 628's antennae immediately picked up that the bowls were much warmer than they were before Jumba put them inside. Jumba placed a second bowl into the device, and when he took it out, it had once more heated up. So 628 assumed this device's function was to heat things up using the waves emitted from it. Jumba lift him to a chair near the table where he placed the bowls on. 628 sniffed, finding that they were giving off fragrant aromas… that made his stomach growl and his mouth water. Jumba waited for his reaction. He looked into the bowls, and found two pieces of previously cooked meat in one, and some white, mashed stuff in the other. There were also three metallic utensils on the table next to them… 628 gave Jumba an odd look. Was this another test? He picked up the fork… 

-Hm… several sharp points, placed an even distance away from each other… this is meant to pierce something, and hold on to it.- He lift the knife.

-Serrated edge, sharpened… obviously used to cut with, and made for meat, too, due to the serrated edge.- And then he lift the spoon. He stared, and stared at this, till his brain figured it out.

-It has a concave surface, where you would place round objects, or a liquid, to lift and carry…-

He looked at Jumba again, who lowered his head some in expectancy. 628 shrugged and lift one of the pieces of the meat, sniffing on it. It smelled so delicious, and due to the watering of his mouth, he figure that's where it would go. He opened up and placed the whole thing in his mouth. He moved his jaw a bit, and found his teeth sticking into it… and every time the meat went near his throat, he would automatically swallow… but the meat was too big… so he started chewing on it, biting it and crushing it into smaller pieces till he could swallow part of it. His eyes stretched and he looked down, feeling an odd sensation travel down his body again. Similar to when he had swallowed those fluids earlier. He chewed more, and swallowed, till the entire piece of meat was gone. He smacked his lips and stared excitedly at the next piece. Jumba laughed softly and shook his head.

"Don't be getting used to it. Will become fat, and fat is bad for movement." He said softly. 628 nodded and tackled the next piece of meat, but decided to cut it using the knife, to make it easier to chew… he held the meat in place with his paw, and made sawing motions… but that got his paw dirty! He looked at the brown sauce on it, and licked it clean. He grabbed the fork and imbedded it into the meat, and almost through the table.

"Shhhh!" Jumba said, and 628 cut the meat a little slower, as if it was what was making the noise. Soon, he had four smaller pieces, and ate these with much more ease. Then came the white mashed stuff. He definitely didn't want that on his hands… so he used the fork once again… but it didn't work so well, as the smaller particles would slip through the fork's teeth. So, that's what the last, concave utensil was for! He scooped up some mash potatoes with the spoon and lobbed it into his mouth. He chewed a few times, but realized the mash was already fine enough to swallow. And so he proceeded to scoop, lob and swallow, till half the bowl was empty… the hungry feeling was gone now, and was replaced by a bloated one, and an urge to close his eyes and lie down. He placed the spoon on the table, and sat back on the chair, rubbing his tummy. Jumba smiled and removed the bowl, placing the remaining mash in the fridge, and the empty one in the sink.

"Come…" Jumba said and motioned for 628 to follow him. He had a start as he found Stitch sitting in the doorway, slightly sleepy-eyed.

"6-2-6? Why not asleep?"

"Ju makka jizza…" he mumbled. Jumba made a 'duh' face. Well, with ears like that, and hearing like that, anyone would make a noise.

"6-2-6, be showing 6-2-8 place to sleep in little girl's room…" Jumba said. Stitch scratched his back and smacked his mouth, staring at 628 as if the words still had to settle in.

"Ih…" he said after a few seconds and waved for 628 to follow him. Jumba nodded when the white experiment looked at him and waved him on. 628 followed Stitch up the stairs. Jumba locked the front door and moved after them, up to his room. Stitch waited till 628 was with him on the elevator, then pressed the button. The lift rose noiselessly, and Stitch pointed to his bed next to the window.

"Fooka ju ikata…" he mumbled, and 628 glanced at his bed to be. Sleep… he wondered if it'll be difficult to do that… Stitch got onto Lilo's bed, and got under the covers next to her, with his back to her.

"Nokta choota…" he mumbled and 628 nodded in return. He walked to below the bed and climbed up the wall onto Stitch's bed. He lied down and covering himself with the little blanket. The bed didn't look like much, but it was surprisingly soft and comfortable, as well as the pillow… 628 turned around twice, and found it more relaxing to stare into the room, than out the window, and thought about everything that has happened so far in his life… a burst of excitement ran through him… if his first day was like this, he really looked forward to the rest of this being alive thing.

And while wondering how one actually goes about sleeping, he quickly drifted off to his first nightmare-free dreams.

* * *

**raVen speaks:**

A nice, calm chapter for once… and forgive the next chapter, please. It's going to be boring, as I'm outlining some of my plotline in the beginning. But, then again, the big battle scene is in there too… so, it's a mix of boring and exciting.

Ecliptic:  
I copy/pasted your name this time. Sorry for the inconvenience. Stay tune for the next chapter!

Ri2:  
Not wind-balls… and yeah, it's only his first day of being conscious, so it'd be the first time he felt hunger. Thanks for the review!

x636:  
Thanks for the… uhm, encouraging words. Stay tuned!

Kila:  
I rock? But you don't want to talk to me? I don't get it. Thanks for the review, anyway and stay tuned for the next chapter!

Thanks to everyone who read, but didn't have time to review… 'didn't have time' can be substituted with 'was to lazy' xD

And extra thanks to those who did review! I'll give you all a special cameo-appearance somewhere in the story. Contact me for details.

-raVen


	7. Chapter 7

**raVen speaks:**

Sorry everyone for the super long wait, but I had like this serious writer's block! This chapter alone ranks about 10 pages, so I hope that kinda makes up for it… I hope it also makes up for the fact that I'm going offline this Wednesday, the 30th November. And I might be offline for at least a month, so, don't expect any chapter updates soon!

Enjoy people… note that because of Fanfiction's 'wonderful' new upgrades, I will respond to your new reviews as the new rule dictates.

Read on, and enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

© by raVen

Editor: Kenjaje

* * *

The Grand Council Woman walked into her quarters and then to the centre of her room, where she paused for a moment. She was taking drastic steps now. Steps that would change many things. There was a knock on the door, and Vangelis turned around. 

"Enter."

The door slid open to reveal a small, green experiment. She was approximately the size of Stitch, with long, floppy, rabbit-like ears, and long, rabbit-like feet. She was slightly taller, but much skinnier than Stitch. Green in color, with a light green/yellow underbelly and around the eyes, a purple crescent on her forehead, and three purple rhombuses on the outside of each arm, and one on each knee.

"You… wished to see me, your Excellency?"

Vangelis made a 'tsk' noise and lowered her head, still looking at the experiment.

"No need for formalities, Phaze. Do come in, lest you be seen and I end up having to epxplain how you... 'broke in' and 'attempted to assault me'." She was Phaze. Experiment 600 - Primary function: Teleportation. She looked uncomfortable as she walked in, rubbing her arm, and looking down.

"What's the matter?" Vangelis asked, looking her way with a frown.

"I'm honored… I've never been in your personal quarters before."

"Oh, stop being ridiculous. Come in…" Phaze walked a little closer to the centre of the room and looked around. She was expecting a palatial estate room of some sorts… not the small, compact condo-flat she was standing in now. Sure, most of the stuff there was the most expensive and most lavish, but it just seemed so small.

"I don't spend a lot of my time here, if that's what you are thinking…" Vangelis answered her confused gaping.

"Do you know of the Eldar's Enclave?" Phaze tilted her head, and shook 'no' after a few seconds.

"It has been hidden for centuries. Right here, on Turo. Do you know what race I am, Phaze?"

"I believe so… uhm, dweanor, correct?"

"Ah. You read the archives, then?"

"I was curious… forgive my-"

"Nonsense… you had every right. But no, Phaze. I am not dweanor. I am Eldar. A race long forgotten. Come here." She motioned with her hand, and reached out, as Phaze moved closer, confused.

"Close your eyes." Phaze stopped as Vangelis placed her hand on her head. She was confused, but asked no questions. She did as she was told. Vangelis also closed her eyes and focused. Phaze gasped… hundreds of images and vision flashed through her mind, and her eyes darted around; similar to REM during sleep. Vangelis lifted her hand from Phaze's head, and smiled as she stared up at her with shock. Vangelis turned around and walked to her bedside, where she opened the drawer and took out a small metallic symbol of sorts… like a letter of some strange language. She walked back to Phaze.

"Those images- how'd you do that? What are those-" But the Grand Council Woman interrupted her and placed a hand on her short sholder, bending over a bit.

"Take me there," she said with determination, holding the rune tightly.

"But I… wait… I _do _know where it is…" she said, incredibly amazed.

"All right… We will be there-," the room blurred, and vision faded. Vangelis felt her body become rigid, strained, as if every muscle in her body was clenched; yet she couldn't move, as if she had become very heavy. She felt a pulling sensation in her stomach, and the odd sensation of spinning through water. They suddenly 'hit' the ground, and Vangelis had to hold onto Phaze for a moment or she would've fallen over.

"-soon…" Phaze finished her sentence. They were in what seemed to be the inside of an Egyptian pyramid… The walls were made of large bricks, but white, with green and red runes all over. The Grand Council Woman's mouth hung open as she stared straight ahead. Phaze's attention was more on a large red ruby poking out of the wall nearby.

"This is it… Thank you for bringing me here…" Vangelis said. They were standing in a corridor leading to a large hall with, what seemed to be an altar. The light was emanating from white hemispherical shapes in the roof, about seven meters above their heads. The corridor behind them had been caved-in. Phaze tore her gaze from the ruby and followed Vangelis into the main chamber.

"It's been centuries since I was here…" she said once more.

"Tell me, Phaze… does the actions of this 4-2-6 surprise you?"

"Yes! He wasn't like this in the lab-,"

"You see, Phaze. The twisted hand of fate has brought you to me… I believe so that you may bring me here… There is something important, something dire that is about to happen here. Yes… a critical moment approaches." She turned away from Phaze and hurried across the room towards the altar. She dropped the glyph in her hand, but instead of it falling to the floor, it started gently pulsating in a white color, and was now following her in an erratic orbit. She paid this no heed, and focused on the white stone altar. As she walked, another glyph tore itself from the wall nearby and followed her as well. This kept on happening till she was at the end of the walkway, in front of the altar. Several runes were floating around her. Vangelis had a very stern look on her face as she stared at it… Phaze did not dare to speak. The hundreds of runes orbiting Vangelis then became still, and floated to right above the altar, where they formed into letters and words that only the Eldar understood. She frowned and stared at the glyphs.

"Twisting their coiling tongues,

Anger fills their rabid lungs,

The young ones rise to claim the throne,

The wise ones watch, their skills to hone," Phaze frowned as she heard this.

"The runes have not changed… in over three-thousand years… but that is impossible."

"What does that mean?" Phaze asked. Vangelis pondered if she could speak about such a sensitive subject… it would mean heresy within the Council if such a thing was done… but the Seer Council was long dead. Its proud representatives now but a thought of the past.

"The first line represents the vile Akani. The second line represents the veracious and battle-hungry Dumar. The third line represents the humans and the last line, the favored children of Fate… the Eldar…" As she said this, the runes changed, and she stared at them, shocked. She quickly read them.

"Enemies all will fall,

Darkness will claim all,

The seers watch with minds all-seeing,

The arrogant harbor fools, minds-fleeting,

They run to war to war to war,

Power from this place will end,

Sharp teeth come to rend." She frowned. "Wait… I've heard this before. There should be a third part…" And once more, the glyphs changed, and rearranged themselves. Vangelis read.

"Wheel of Fate turns no more,

The circle broken,

Agent beast comes forth, the core,

All life a token." She nodded solemnly, and paused for a long time. Phaze stared at the floating glyphs… this was way too weird for her, and she felt kind-of spazzed out of her mind.

"The last eight lines is what caused us, the dissidents, to break from the council's wisdom, and run to war, to stop this so called 'agent beast' from appearing. In a way, I caused the destruction of my race. I was the child of the Farseer, destined to lead the council one day. When my mother kept quiet when I spoke my thoughts, none hesitated to follow me. The humans used their technology, amplified by the lies and untruthful words of the Akani, to our world… here, on Turo… and where there was a war, Dumar was not far behind. So, it ended up that all four races were here, on our home world. There was a gruesome battle. The largest battle, and all four races poured everything they had into it. The Eldar that had refused to follow the dissidents, were called to fight. And my mother… She used the key of Khyla to destroy all life on the planet. There was very little left. The Akani were never heard from again, the Dumar are a peaceful race today, and the humans are making quite the comeback. As for the Eldar… the seven of us left have been holding onto our fleeting positions of power, monitoring the events of time for the coming of the so call 'agent beast'…"

"And you think that…" Phase said, her mouth slightly ajar… she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She blinked a few times and forced herself to wake up, but… no. This was real. Vangelis narrowed her eyes.

"I believe the experiment, 4-2-6, is Fate's so called 'agent beast'."

She sighed. "I was hoping to find some clue as to what we should do here. But the runes cannot be fully cast without either all fifteen Seer Members, or with the Farseer…"

"But, you said you're the child of the, uhm, 'Farseer'…"

"But I never saw my position as such… I was never trained on how to cast the runes, only how to read them, and how to correctly interpret them." There was a quick jolt, as the entire room seemed to shake once, quickly. There was the sound of a piece of metal shooting open, and both Phase and Vangelis looked around in confusion. Phase spotted it first… a pointed tip was rising from the side of the altar. She pointed at it, and Vangelis looked. Her jaw dropped and she walked over to it, in utter shock. Just as she reached out to touch the rising object, the glyphs furiously scatter and change once more. Once they rearranged, Vangelis. Started reading over them… but she got a confused look.

"What's wrong? What do they say?" Phase asked with concern. Vangelis looked at her as if she was wondering if such a tiny creature could comprehend something like this. She turned to it and read, as the object continued to rise from the altar, forming a sharp, bladed, triangular white tip.

"Death stops the wheel of Fate

Heroes rise; it's not too late

Fate misjudged at length

the beast's untamed strength

Come again the fallen wise

From the ashes you shall rise

blood of the seer falls

beast brother answer calls…"

She shook her head, and Phase lowered hers.

"What does it mean?" Phase asked, looking up at Vangelis, who was staring at the rising blade… it soon ended, and its grip emerged… Vangelis stared at it, not with awe this time, but with understanding. Phase was horribly confused. Soon, the object stopped moving, and Vangelis gripped it. She pulled out the rest of the item… it was a spear. A long, white spear, tipped with a serrated head. The long white stick, had a green area near the head, and the headpiece had a large red emerald imbedded in it.

"I understand now. Fate sent its agent, to kill the corruption of the Akani who were rumored to be on Strajor… And all this time we thought the agent will come to kill everything… that's what we understood by 'all life a token'… But what was meant by this was that the Akani sought to destroy all life, not the agent. All that confuses me is that fate has made a mistake… and now it is required of me, to fall, possibly to die, so that the 'beast brother' may be woven into this stream that fate has set for it…"

"What? No! That can't be right!" Phase said and stared at the glyphs, hoping they'd change again and say that it wouldn't have to be so.

"And what further confuses me, is that it's fated that the elder would rise again. But this is impossible. Without our bonesong-players, we cannot reproduce… Unless there is one with the knowledge of our instruments out there. Then the Eldar could rise once more…"

Trying not to digest all this information at once, Phase pointed at the spear.

"Now just exactly what is that?" she asked. Her ears were halfway up and back, in a distressed state.

"This? This is the emblem, the channeling focus of the Farseer. It has been entrusted to me by fate itself. My mother must have stored it here, knowing that I would be fated to find it."

"Wait-wait-wait… Let me just get this… Are you able to predict the future?" Phase asked, finally catching on.

"In days long past, yes…"

"How is that possible? I thought we all had free will? It won't be much of a free will if we just end up following a pre-set path anyway!"

Vangelis stared long and hard at Phase, as she thought about this… They never questioned the runes… they never wondered how they worked or how they function, or why, and who discovered them… they merely knew that there runes were a precious resource that allowed them to prepare for the future in a way that was most beneficial to them.

"I… truly do not know… but the runes have never led us astray…" she said and stared at them, almost lovingly. Phase laughed and the Grand Council Woman frowned down on her.

"What is so humorous about my comment?"

"You say they never led you astray, huh? But look at your race now! You're barely still here!" Vangelis frowned once more.

"Even in that aspect, it did not lead us astray. It said that the Wise would fall… and we have fallen."

"And what are you supposed to do with the spear, now that you have it?" Vangelis laughed at this, and gripped the spear with both hands. She pointed it into a random direction and it was riddled with white electrical arcs. Phase 'ooooohed'. The next moment, Vangelis did a swirling motion and struck the floor with the tip, and a white wave of electrical energy erupted in all directions, sending Phase flying to land on the floor nearby. She skid to a stop and jerked and jolted as the electricity caused her muscles to spasm. As it subsided, she became aware of a tinkering sound… metal scraping and various other sounds of movement… she sat up and groaned, rubbing her head. What just happened? The next moment a strange creature came walking up to her, bearing the spear. There stood a magnificent creature, fully dressed in white and green armor made of some foreign material… the pointed helmet, covering the whole head, had some kind of re-breathing device built into it… and had two red rubies placed on it's forehead, and then further up near the tip. A similar ruby, slightly larger, was located on in the middle of the chest. From her back hung a long cape with various glyphs and symbols woven into it. Five glyphs orbited her body as she stared down at Phase… and the voice that spoke sounded remotely like the Grand Council Woman's… but as if she was speaking to a device that distorted it.

"It is time for me to play my part in things to come. I just pray that I am the better actor." She reached out to her right, and from the distance, a strange device came flying right into her outstretched hand, and she gripped it with confidence. It looked remotely like a pistol… but the barrel looked like and inverted funnel… she held it raised next to her head and looked down.

"Take me…"

The large metallic city of Mournall was the only sign of civilization on the entire blue planet. It was bustling with life, and several small freight cruisers sped this way and that, and various other civilian crafts sped about. The walkways were filled with random people, mostly offworlders, but the lesser majority was the planet's native species, the Odana… Due to the planet's politics and rules, only they were allowed to provide services to the population of offworlders. The entire city was built for the sole purpose of tourism and trade, as all the Odanian cities were submerged under the ocean.

* * *

Near the edge of the city, a tall, oval building that had a section cut out of the tip, stood to welcome incoming ships… 

"Incoming craft X-13445 O9… please upload security certificates for authorization before entering Mournall atmosphere…" the Odanian spoke through the comlink at the fast approaching vessel. After several moments, it had not responded… in fact, it was picking up speed.

"Incoming craft X-13445 O9…" he said, more slowly and clearly. "Please cease your engines and respond." Once more, nothing… the ship then entered the atmosphere. The Odanian frowned.

"You have illegally entered Mournall atmosphere! Cease your engines and prepare to be taken into custody!" But there was no response. The Odanian glanced out the window he was sitting at, at the approaching fireball.

"Cease and desist! You are endangering the lives of our pilots!" The fireball seemed to respond then… it pulled up slightly… and was now heading for the very bulding he was sitting it. His eyes went wide.

"Pull up! Pull up!" he shouted through the comlink and the Odanian sitting at the table next to him frowned and glanced at him.

"What's going-" but his eye caught the light and he glanced out the window with a frightened look. Both of them immediately got out of their chairs, the former with a '…shit…'… and ran for it. Screams erupted all around as the people saw the oncoming fireball and-

* * *

The explosion ripped through the building, causing it's foundations to collapse and crumble, and the building to tilt and fall. It collapsed onto the other buildings in the area, and suddenly, the entire city was filled with screams and yells as the people scattered. Several more, minor explosions erupted as generators and power-points overloaded and short-circuited. Little to say, the town was in a complete state of panic. Several blocks away, people were staring panicky in the direction the huge smoke-cloud was coming from… and they started running for the hangers… but without the flight-control centre, the ships flew into each other and exploded mid-air, some ships simply dropped out of the sky, not having been refueled, and in some hangars, the protective energy shields were still enabled… this ships never left the hanger. The people that were running away seemed to move slower and slower, thought. Their screams lowered in pitch, and the smoke slowed… A nearby news ticker's letters stopped and a drop of water falling from a pipe halted mid-air… In the middle of the road's intersection, the air seemed to ripple and compress. A few moments later, with a loud FWOP, there stood the Grand Council Woman and Phase by her side. Everything was back to normal speed, and the frightened aliens all around them were too busy running away to notice that two beings had just appeared out of thin air. The Grand Council Woman let go of Phase's shoulder and stood up. She turned and stared into the distance, where the smoke was coming from. 

"Phase… I want you to return to Turo at once. Return to your room, and wait my arrival. This will not take long. The runes tell me so."

"And what if you die? You're the Grand Council Woman! Just think the chaos-"

"I do not intend on going that way. You'd be the first to know if I need evacuation. Now fly!" And with that, Vangelis turned and ran in the opposite direction that everyone else was going.

* * *

From the rubble, a massive piece of concrete lifted and was hurled into the distance. The mutated experiment growled and roared as he stumbled through the fire. He broke through what was left of the base of the control tower and snarled at the world around him. He laughed menacingly at the screams that filled the air. But something was out of place… in the large clearing that surrounded the base of the control area, there was a single being, standing tall and proud… unafraid. This just wouldn't do! He growled loudly and let off a spine-chilling howl, expecting the weakling to turn on its heels and run… but… it stood. He growled. This must be the captain of the guard, showing his men how brave he was… but, there was finesse in the way he stood… it had to be a female. The next moment something ricocheted off his shoulder and his attention was pulled back to the present. He flinched several more times as projectiles slammed into him and bounced off… he growled and looked up at the female who was pointing a strange device at him, the annoying projectiles coming from it. He focused, focusing his rage, and he could clearly see the shuriken-shaped projectiles as they flew at him. Moving forward, and sidestepping the next shuriken, he ran straight at the woman, who quickly holstered her weapon and readied a long spear… He grunted… nothing could hurt him. As he came close, he launched himself into the air and readied his arms to tear this pathetic creature in half… but just as he was coming down, the female waved her hand, and he found himself moving in the opposite direction, his body spasming as electricity shot through it… and for the first time, he felt pain. 

"Come. Let us end this…" Vangelis said, and ran after the rogue experiment as he still flew through the air. With a back flip, he landed on his feet, his claws digging grooves into the metal as he skidded to a stop. She ran at him, her spear raised to her left by her right hand. She lobbed a packet of static energy at him, which caused him to twitch and spasm where he stood, and she brought the head of the weapon down in a diagonal slash… and back with a horizontal slice, and then a flurry of six or seven moves, finishing with a kick that sent the experiment flying a few feet back. But he stood, uninjured. Vangelis drew her weapon, and fired at him, trotting backwards from the burning rubble… Once more, he came running at her, and she anticipated his attack, turning and delivering a mighty slash that sent a wave of electrical energy surging at him. He saw it coming, though, and braced himself, running right through it… his footing became erratic due to his spasming muscles, and he floored, sliding at Vangelis. She jumped and used his sliding body as a pedestal to jump over him, and once more ran after him. He hurtled himself to his feet, and turned, shouldering Vangelis, causing her to lift into the air. She made a back flip and sensed the oncoming attack, holding the spear horizontally in front of her as the experiment slashed at her, and moved it to the side to block the next slash… the sheer force of these attacks caused her to stay in the air, and be slightly raised back with each attack that landed. After several such attack attempts, she sensed and oncoming opening, and turned, delivering a kick to the side of the experiment's head when he recoiled from her previous block. He merely stumbled backwards a few steps and came at her again. With another flip, she landed on her feet and raised her left hand over her right shoulder. As the experiment leapt at her once more, she delivered the equivalent of a back-hand slap, accompanied by a large electrical explosion that sent electrical arcs of energy striking the floor, as the experiment flew and hit the floor, spasming once more with various grunts and groans. Vangelis stood a moment, breathing hard. After all she had done so far, he had shown absolutely no visible signs of wounds or injuries. He stood up and growled at her once more.

"What are you…?" she questioned as she brought two fingers to the crystal on her forehead… her hand began glowing with white energy. Seeing this as a bad sign, 426 rushed at her again. She moved her hand to her side, and pumped some more energy into her hand… just as he reached her, she released the built-up energy in a wave. A massive sphere of energy erupted from her hand in a massive electrical explosion. Little to say that 426 was sent flying… He crashed into the burning fires of the destroyed flight-control tower.

* * *

Vangelis took this moment to re-centre herself. 

"The future is clouded… and uncertain…" she said as she glanced at the runes still orbiting her body. She attempted to touch one of them, but it flashed an odd red color, and passed through her hand.

"You sent me to destroy that which you cannot control…" she clenched the outstretched hand.

"Why, then, hide the outcome?" She gripped the spear and ran towards the rubble, using her telekinetic powers to blow large chunks of rubble out of the way, and to calm the fires. She flinched, and held up her spear as 426 came leaping at her through the fires, the very next moment. She forced the pole into his stretched jaws and he gripped the pole as well, with his four arms. He used Vangelis' body as support, and stepped on her stomach as she stumbled with him on her… with her full concentration now on him, the fires she had been suppressing roared to life and they were momentarily lost through the flames. A moment later, Vangelis' spear came flying out of the wreckage into the clearing, soon followed by Vangelis herself. She flew through the air and just as she reached the tip of her ascent, she gracefully flipped upright and landed right next to the spear, holding her side. She picked it up in time to see a massive piece of concrete flying her way. Holding out her hand, she caught it mid-air with her powers, and sent it back at the experiment, who had picked up another piece of burning concrete. With a look of surprise, the larger piece of concrete landed on him, and he disappeared under it, only to burst out, pieces of concrete flying everywhere, a moment later. The next moment, the runes orbiting Vangelis drastically swirled around. She flinched wildly and turned around, covering herself from any attack… but nothing came. She stared, bewildered, at the runes, who were still nearly screaming their warning… then she noticed it… 426 was standing with his head back, in the fires… something was coming from his mouth… or maybe it was simply the fires playing with her eyes… but no… a moment later, she had to shield her eyes as a bright purple/pink flash erupted from his mouth. When she looked again, a strange pink/purple demonic fire was erupting from his mouth… he stepped from the fires and wreckage and lowered his head to look at her… but his eyes were hideously distorted… particles were gathering into his mouth, where the odd fire was coming from, and the runes around her started vibrating in urgency… but she stood, dumbfounded at what was happening. The next moment, a beam, about four inches wide shot from his mouth. Vangelis had hardly tilted her upper body the smallest of fractions, before it shot over her left shoulder, where her head had been mere moments before. Once again, everything slowed down as her powers dilated her perception. She could feel her armor dissolving away as the beam raced past her, and milliseconds later, it raced through the buildings behind her. As time resumed it's normal speed, Vangelis fell on her right side, completely lost in what had just happened. 426 was stumbling around, holding his head and groaning to himself. Vangelis stood up and turned to look, with horror, at the massive grove that was torn in the buildings behind her… it stretched as far as she could see, to the end of the floating city. This was really serious… she had known, all along, that this creature did not care for who it harmed… but seeing it first-hand, was far more horrible than she could've thought. She turned to her spear, and was horrified to see that the whole head was missing… it was in her left hand, and she must've brought it right into the beam as she sidestepped. She felt a sense of lost horror overtake her… this really was suicide… She stared at 426, who was slowly regaining his senses after the exertion on his body.

"This has to end. By any means possible," she said to herself, and was surprised to hear her normal voice… she brought her hand to her face, and noticed that the entire right side of her helmet had disintegrated… anxiously, she felt if the red crystal on her forehead was still present, and it was. She looked to her side, and noticed the armor on her left shoulder and upper arm was also gone… she could see, and feel, her skin. Frowning, she turned once more to the experiment. She reached out and pointed to fingers at him, and closed her eyes. She readied her energies, ready to destroy the creature's mind, but stopped… something was terribly wrong… there was someone, someone else trapped _inside _this creature… she broke the link at once. He was not doing this out of his own free will… something was controlling him. The runes around her flashed a green shade, and changed somewhat… but Vangelis did not understand what that meant. Maybe if she could rend him unconscious and take him back to Jookiba, he could fix his own creation… She brought her hand to the crystal on her forehead once more, and then pointed her palm at 426, who had just focused on her again. Another explosion erupted from him, sending an orb of psychic energy outwards… but this time, it contained no force, it was completely focused to render him unconscious. It seemed to have worked, as 426 fell over.

"Halt! In the name of The Galactic Federation!" came a yell from behind. Vangelis' eyes stretched and she turned around with a gasp. There stood nearly an entire army of the planet's fishlike inhabitants, dressed in strange pink, green and red coral armor, and clutching what looked like tridents in their hands. They were dripping wet, clearly only just have emerged from the nearby ocean. At their helm was a larger one, and he had several spikes on his helmet. The captain? General?

"Fools. I am the Galactic Federation!" The general glared at her for a moment, and then noticed her exposed cheek, and he immediately bowed his head.

"Your Excellency! That creature is under arrest for massive structural damage and loss of life!" he said loudly.

"That's why I am here, myself… you must all flee. You are in grave danger here…" she said and pointed to 426… who was getting up again? She gasped and looked at him.

"Run!" she screamed at them.

"Your Excellency! I think my men are more than able to handle this threat!" he said, and pointed his finger. The front two rows of his units charged at 426 and surrounded him. A growl later, and four came flying over the heads of their companions. Several shouts and yells erupted and, with a sickening splotch, only the upper half of another soldier landed nearby, spraying murky grey blood as it went. The general stared at this, horrified.

"Charge!" he yelled.

"No! Idiots!" the Grand Council Woman interjected, but it was too late… her voice was drowned out by the yells of the general's men, as well as himself, as they rushed at 426.

"You will all be slaughtered!" she yelled. "I _ORDER _you to retreat!" she added. But to no avail… yells and scream of pain and horror filled the air, as well as sickening sounds of limbs being torn from their sockets. Vangelis stood back as more soldiers rushed past, looking shocked.

"Fine… you have damned yourself and your men… as well as this whole planet…" she said as she pressed her left hand against the red crystal on her forehead.

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few…" she added, and pressed her right hand to the crystal on her chest. Immediately, an arc of electricity formed between them, and constant flashes started erupting from them.

"By the power vested in me, I condemn this planet, and all those living in breathable air on it, including myself." And with that, she pressed her hands together, and thrust them into the sky. A massive lightning bolt shot from it, traveling into the atmosphere. The nearby fighting soldiers stopped to stare at it, and backed away. The sky turned a darker shade of blue, and a wave spread out from where the bolt had hit the protective ozone layer covering the planet, far above, and you could see it spread, quickly, turning blue, as it spread wider and wider, quickly covering the entire visible area, and soon, the planet. The lightning then stopped, and Vangelis lowered her hands.

"If you wish to live…" a unnaturally white and large lightning bolt struck the distant waters.

"…run for the waters at once…" another lightning bolt struck the city somewhere in, causing an explosion. There were still screaming and yells, as 426 slaughtered the mass amounts of men, but at least those within earshot of Vangelis dropped their weapons and ran for the waters as fast as they could. The general was one of them. The surrounding area was now riddle with lighting strikes.

"What have you done?" he asked, his face frightened.

"An Eldritch Storm. I have ionized the air surrounding your planet… the oxygen will soon bind, forming hazardous chemicals, and the surface will be riddled with severe lightning storms for at least another-" they flinched as a lightning bolt hit very close, and more of the soldiers turned and ran. "-another five standard years." Not even waiting to argue, as another bolt struck nearby, the general turned.

"RETREAT!" he yelled and ran for the oceans as fast as his aquatic legs could carry him. Over the noise of the lightning, only a few of the soldiers heard him and ran.

"Now. Let us truly end this," Vangelis said, and pressed her hands to the red crystals, this time firing only a minor lightning bolt, with one hand, into the sky… this caused several lightning bolts to strike in the very clearing the were standing one… electric arcs also jumped between objects and seemed to focus on the group of soldiers surrounding 426. Yelling a war cry, Vangelis drew her firearm and charged at 426 as several lightning bolts struck him at once, and a massive electrical shockwave shot from this concussion. The wave send the soldiers flying in separate directions, and caught Vangelis herself in mid-run, ripping her armor off her body, her weapon off her hand, and tearing at her mind and body. As she flew back, and felt consciousness leave her, she could've sworn she saw something green appear and grab her.

* * *

**raVen speaks:**

Thanks again to all my loyal readers, and everyone who spent time on these. Once again, faithful reviewers, my e-mail address is on my main page; e-mail me for your special cameo-appearances.

Check out ecliptic -dot- sheezyart -dot- com (replace the -dot- with a real one... stupid fanfiction) if you wanna see my ceooote ikkle little 628, drawn by the art master Ecliptic, as well as the rest of this marvelous artist's experiment related works!

* * *

Right, this is the last time I'm allowed to reply to reviews in my story:

X636:  
Yes he may. Just e-mail me and we can discuss the appearance.

Ecliptic:  
Yush! And fer drawing 628, you get a super-special cameo! Catch ya on AIM and we can discuss the details.

Kila:  
xD Motivation IS dangerous! And I'm not comfortable on talking on boards… so… And thanks for the compliments. I wanted to show how an new, fully conscious being gets used to living in a body… Glad to know I'm doing a good job.

Ri2:  
Thankee XP  
And yeah, that's what I'm aiming for. Mail me for your cameo… it's the least I could do.

* * *

Reviews welcomed, and rewarded. Love you guys and see you in a whole long bit! Buhbye! 


	8. Chapter 8

**raVen speaks:**

I decided to update for once!

There's another version of this chapter… a more adult version. But you'll have to e-mail me to get it.

And my editor/fellow writer seems to be slacking off… so forgive me if this chapter is full of tiny little errors.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

© by raVen

**

* * *

**

All was quiet as the sun rose, like it usually did every single day… all except for two sources of soft, gentle and catlike purring… one emanated from Lilo's bed, where the two had entangled somehow and was now cuddling each other in their sleep; Stitch's head pressed against Lilo's chest, and her head on top of his, grasping each other tightly, breathing softly. The other source came from a mess of blankets and pillows on the platform next to the window, where a white ear protruded from the heap, pointing straight up into the air. From somewhere underneath all that, another, soft purr was heard.

The time was about 7 AM, and Nani was up an about, getting ready to go to work. The rest of the house was still pretty much very quiet. Feeling in a very good mood, Nani made waffles and a pot of hot, pure full caffeine coffee. Placing the waffles in the microwave, she glanced at the coffee pot full of the black stuff, and then around at the kitchen… as if it was the last time she would see it. She made her way to her room, put on some trainers, and walked back, taking the elevator up to Lilo and Stitch's room. Seeing both of them in the same bed, se raised an eyebrow, but thought nothing further… and lucky for 628, seeing Stitch with Lilo, Nani didn't even bother looking over to Stitch's bed.

"Lilo… Honey?" she said softly and nudged Lilo's shoulder. She opened her eyes, blinked a bit and focused on Nani.

"Yeah…?" she asked, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

"I made some waffles, they're in the microwave. And don't forget to come around at ten so we can go buy you some new sandals." She nodded sleepily. Stitch was still fast asleep. Nani leaned down and gave Lilo a kiss.

"Well, I'm off. Seeya later."

"Kay…" And Lilo laid back down, turning her back towards Nani and Stitch, and pulled up the blanket. Nani turned back and took the elevator down once more, grabbing a bag from her room, and leaving through the front door.

"Bah… stupid time differences…" Jumba mumbled and rubbed all four his eyes, as he walked down the stairs from his cockpit and out the side door through the larger room. He frowned at the amount of light outside, visible through the trees.

"Was being up all night?" he asked himself. "Blitznag…" And he waddled through the undergrowth back to the house, up the stairs, through the door, and up more stairs to his room… but on opening the door, he realized something.

Where's Pleakley! Stifling a yawn, he quickly hurried back to the ship and scanned all the rooms. He had left Pleakley on that workbench to recover… but in his haste to help 628 the previous day, he had not even noticed Pleakley was gone when he used the very same table for 628. Rubbing his burning eyes, he shook his head.

"Probably be going with Nani to town…" he said and made his way all the way back to his room again, where he promptly fell asleep.

* * *

Lilo was suddenly wide awake and sat up. Nani was just in the room. She glanced over to where 628 still slept, and scratched her head. For some strange, miraculous reason, Nani hadn't noticed the white ball of fluff on Stitch's bed… Stitch stirred, and a moment later, Lilo was staring down into his big, black eyes.

"Gabba…?" came his sleepy question. Lilo just shook her head, and Stitch frowned, propping himself up to look at what Lilo was looking at… 628, still asleep in his bed. So?

"Nani was in here just now…" Lilo answered his unasked question. Stitch's eyes stretched and he glanced at 628 to make sure he was still there.

"Not notice cousin?" Stitch asked, now very much awake and sitting up.

"…No!" Lilo said, incredulously. Stitch gaped.

"I know! It's weird," Lilo replied and shooed Stitch off the bed, and got out of it herself. She glanced at her clock… it was about nine. Stitch was only halfway up the wall to the window, when Lilo came out of her dresser, her pajamas off, replaced by a yellow muumuu with red leaves.

"Just hurry, Stitch! We gotta get a sandwich to Pudge before we meet Nani at the shoe-place…" she said stuffing her swimsuit into a bag.

"Ih…" Stitch said and hurried out the window.

Several moments later, he returned through the doggy door downstairs, and into the kitchen, where Lilo was eating some waffles. He hopped up onto the chair, about to swallow his three waffles (Lilo only took one), when she stopped him.

"What did I tell you?" Lilo asked, her hands on her hips.

"Huh?" Stitch asked, his head tilted sideways, one ear up, and the other halfway, his paws frozen over the waffles. Lilo waved a finger at him.

"You have to wash your hands after going, or-"

"-bad germs eat stomach; yeah yeah…" he said, finishing her sentence, and with that he hopped off the chair and hurried to the bathroom and back soon afterwards. He waved his hands dry before he lobbed/stuffed the waffles into his mouth, emptied the cup with the warm syrup afterwards, and swallowed with effort. Lilo just stared at him in shocked awe. He gave a chuckle, and waddled over to the zinc, placing his plate and the cup in it, like a well educated sentient being. Lilo was leaning on one hand, and was gesturing with her fork as she spoke. "The next thing I'm teaching you, are table manners… really. It's a good thing we eat in our room when Nani's here, or we would've lost that deal with her long ago."

"Naga besta…" he mumbled and shrugged.

"Miga koutchu kagabbi?"

"Well, it's only been one day… so it's hard to tell."

"Iki kagotta chitchitiba?" Lilo took a bite, chewed and swallowed before answering.

"Three days… if Nani's not forgotten about it…"

"Ih." The microwave flashed 9:30 and Lilo gasped.

"You can make the sandwich while I finish here! Quickly!"

"Oketakka!"

* * *

628 woke with a start, sitting up, wide awake… He felt his body all over and looked down to confirm that he, being alive, was not just some kind of strange dream. He shook his head and giggled as his ears slapped him in the face. He grabbed them and tugged some, wincing. They were kinda sensitive. Something welled up inside him and he closed one eye, forcing the feeling down. When it passed, his eyes were full of tears and he had this unbelievable urge to just stretch! Once again the feeling came, and he could hold it no longer, his mouth opened in a huge yawn and he stretched, long and hard, finally collapsing back onto the bed with a grin on his face, his eyes half-open. That was nice… and it left him feeling more aware and suddenly, his mind seemed to do the equivalent of a boot-up in PC's, and his various senses reported all sorts of information to him… the sounds, the smells, if there was any imminent danger, how hungry/thirsty he was, the condition of his health, his body temperature, the percentage dilatation of his veins and a whole bunch of other information. This sudden burst of information made him pause for no more than a second as his mind processed this, and he was once again back to his awareness. He had to use the bathroom. As he got down from the bed with a soft landing, he noticed his keepers were not present. Lilo and the blue one, Stitch. Their scents were quite new, and he pondered where they could be on his way to the bathroom.

Having been careful at flushing this time, 628 left the bathroom and looked around cautiously… he didn't know if he was allowed to wander around on his own… he listened for a bit, trying to find any sounds, but he just heard the snoring of someone upstairs. He felt a rising feeling welling up once more… one that made him hyperventilate and want to run around, looking for someone… but his logic quickly quelled this, and he was just left with the uneasy feeling of being alone. He took a deep, instinctive breath, and decided that he was fully capable of looking after himself. Hm… these earthlings, as Jumba called them, walked on the floor… which means that he was less likely to be found on the ceiling. So he pressed his paws against the wall and had his claws dig in a little to make sure he'd stick, and climbed to the ceiling. His ears twisted this way and that, tilting the mental map that he had of the house around in his mind. He made his way over to the living room and peered around, then into the kitchen, the smell of food wafting into his nostrils… but this was not priority, so he scurried back and to Nani's room. It was empty as well, but it reeked with her scent. Twisting his ears around again, he made his way to where the snore was coming from, and dropped down from the ceiling, making sure to land softly. He took a moment to tap his nose as he stared at the door's mechanism. He decided to pull on it, and so climbed halfway up the wall to do so, yet, no effect. Next, he tried to push it… but no effect either. Then he tried twisting it, but he was sure that wouldn't work… but there was an audible click and the door swung open inwards. He climbed through the small opening he made and noticed that it was Jumba making all the noise.

"Nikishta?" he said loudly and Jumba groaned and squirmed in his sleep.

"Nikishta?" he tried again, but nothing this time. He dropped from the wall and walked over to the bed, and stared up at it, his ears twisting around as he figured out what to do. With one mighty bound, he jumped right onto Jumba's big belly, and had to pause a moment, staring at the floor and where was standing now. He didn't know he could jump that high. He made a 'meh' sound and turned his attention back to Jumba, placing one paw on his hip and the other tapped his nose. He settled on a high-pitched squeak.

"Kiiiiiiiihiiii!" he sounded and Jumba jumped with such force that 628 went flying and the bed groaned painfully, before collapsing under Jumba's mass. When the dust cleared, 628 found himself clutching to the wall, upside down, and Jumba was sitting, propped up by his arms, with the nightcap he was wearing drenched over his face. His rear eyes could still see though.

"6-2-8…" he said surprisingly calmly after what just happened. 628 gasped, though, and quickly got to the floor, grabbing one of the bed's legs and looking in vein if there was any way to put it back together.

"Soka!"

"Is being okay… ugh…" Jumba stood up and dusted himself off, taking the nightcap off and tossing it aside. He was wide awake after that little encounter.

"No use for sleeping now…" he mumbled. He bent backwards and rubbed his back, trying to rid himself of the stiffness in his joints caused by lack of sleep.

"Be reminding me to be making device that fixes things by itself…" he said and rubbed his four eyes.

"Iyanota shikitta kiyatta?" 628 quickly blabbed out his fears.

"Oho?" Jumba mumbled and leaned somewhat to glance out the door but shook his head. He wouldn't be able to see anyone from there anyways.

"Well… bigger earth girl is being working…" he said and walked over to the table, tapping something on the computer.

"And 626, most likely with little girl, is proceeding to town, though they are being taking abnormal route…" he paused.

"Ah, yes… the fish-deity that Lilo believes in. She had to feed him today, which means it is being Thursday." He had another blank pause. 628 just watched him and sat doggy-style, his paws tucked in-between his feet. Jumba seemed to try and remember something… then he snapped his fingers.

"Must be getting to dry-cleaning for Pleakley's stupid formal eating gathering occasion tomorrow… gah." He opened a drawer and pulled out a roll of hundreds. He waved it at 628.

"Earth money is confusing being…" he mumbled and 628 took the roll from him, sniffing it and rolling it around with a curious/confused look.

"Once be buying soda, and be handing one of rolls of currency, and helping person behind antique technology machine just be staring for several moments… is time that Pleakley suggested we leave… hm… let be getting disguise on… be right out."

After Jumba dressed, he opened the door to a waiting 628, still clutching the roll of money. 628 tilted his head up at his creator with a curious expression. Jumba was now wearing a wig, a mustache and native Hawaiian clothing that were stretched to their limits across the great surface of his belly. He patted his tummy and pulled up his pants, then started down the stairs.

"Now, how far is training coming with little girl and 626?"

"Ih! Jusha dokka."

"Good, good. After final training today, will being fully trained to take on threat of 4-2-6."

"Huh… danitta?"

"Yes. Many exercises being devised over night. Very simple exercises actually." He reached into his pocket and took out a tennis-ball.

"Be checking hand-eye coordination and dexterity with simple throw-and-catch technique. Be doing this for lack of more sophisticated testing technology that be having back at lab," Jumba explained as they walked down the stairs.

"Also being ingenious, as natives of planet will be thinking am playing fetch-game with dog…" he added and laughed, opening the door and walking out. He locked it behind him. 628 once again enjoyed the scents and smells of nature's many fresh fragrances as the wind blew through his fur. Jumba grunted, and walked down the last of the stairs. 628 stayed standing where he was, not sure if he was to follow or not.

"This is also being good opportunity to be showing other natives of earth…" he said and glanced to his side, to find 628 missing. He looked back to find him still standing at the top of the stairs.

"Come!" he said and beckoned.

"We're going for a walk…"

Moments later, they were walking through the town. 628 was jumpy and glancing from side to side, afraid and paranoid of all the many different smells, noises and moving things. His heart was beating furiously as his nose was assaulted by hundreds of smells, some of them chemicals that are poisonous to living things. His head felt dizzy… just then he noticed a native that was holding some sort small white stick that was smoking. He constantly brought this to his mouth, pulled some smoke into his mouth, and then inhaled it. He then breathed out the smoke, and continued to talk with the native nearby. The smoke he blew out contained hundreds of lethal poisons… 628 wondered why the human would choose to kill himself in such a slow, agonizing way… surely there were faster methods- he suddenly walked into something hard and fell onto his furry behind. He rubbed his cheek, and noticed that Jumba had come to a stop, glancing up at a sign, and then down at a paper in his hand.

"We are being here," he said downwards at 628 and held out his hand. 628 glanced down at the roll of money still in his paw and reached up, giving it to Jumba.

"Be staying here."

"Ih…"

Jumba walked into the store… 628 sat down and awaited his creator… he jumped as a cup broke in the coffee-shop next door, and then again as a vehicle sounded it's horn right in the street in front of him. He darted under one of the coffee tables, expecting the apocalypse to arrive at any moment… his nose was working more and more to analyze all the various smells… it was taking up so much of his concentration, that his eyelids drooped as if he was in a drugged state. He shook his head to try and clear it, but then he became aware that his ears were also trying to analyze what they were hearing. Soon, he began drowsily swerving as he sat under the table and was about to keel over when a pair of small hands took him and lifted him up.

"6-2-8! Hey, are you okay? 6-2-8?" His vision was blurry, but the female voice cleared his mind and soon, the many blurred images became one, and he saw the concerned face of Lilo, with a similarly concerned one of his blue cousin over her shoulder.

"Oooh… ganjakidibba…" he mumbled and rubbed his head.

"What's wrong...?"

"Uuungh…" he groaned and blinked several times.

"Cousin is takkaba, miga inja-gasha shi-shi, 'gabba na bakka'?" Stitch said and stumbled around to emphasize his point.

"Oh…" Lilo said and put him down. She quickly tried to remember what it was that she did when the same happened to Stitch… the memory came back to her and she quickly waved her hand in front of 628's face. He was drowsily swaying again.

"6-2-8! Look at my hand… hey…" she clicked her fingers and he blinked a few times.

"Hey! Here… focus on my hand… just on my hand…" she said. He did as she said and focused on her hand. It was blurry for a moment, but it soon became clear.

"Ju… ju shouga naga shipakka gigga goju…" Stitch added on. Okay. The hand is the only thing there. There's nothing else… He then experienced an odd sensation as everything else around him was blocked out and the hand became grossly magnified and clear in his vision. He could see every single sweat-pore on her hand, see the various shadows and contrasts of her skin, her unique hand print and fingerprints were etched into his brain… he picked up on the traces of salt and urea on her skin due to sweat, he could almost feel the blood pulsing through her veins! He tilted his head sideways and his ears were tilted directly towards her hand.

"Is working…" Stitch said and pointed to 628's hands, which were gently lifting up as 628 instinctively wanted to _feel _the object he was studying. Lilo then proceeded to give one loud clap and 628 almost fell over from surprise. The surroundings flooded back in, but thanks to the little experience she had just given him, he found that he could mentally block out the unwanted things he didn't want to hear or see or smell. He glanced around at everything around him. He noticed the tourist with the smoking stick and tilted his ears away… it was as if the tourist wasn't there… the moment he tilted his ears to the tourist, and looked at him, it was as if he was talking to him, right next to him in an enclosed, quiet room. He grinned. This was _cool. _The only negative thing was that he couldn't distinguish between the thousands of smells filtering in.

"Better?" Lilo asked.

"Ih! Takka!" he said and stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do with this feeling of showing gratitude physically. Lilo acted on that, and gave him a hug. He found this alarming at first, and wanted to push her away, but her soft, almost loving embrace caused shivers to run over him and he went limp. He found a purr escaping his throat and raised an eyebrow. Lilo let go and stared at him, somewhat surprised. He looked down at himself, sheepishly and grinned back up at her, scratching his head. Stitch was enjoying the scene himself, but for a completely different reason. He knew exactly how his cousin felt, and enjoyed watching him squirm as he did once a while ago.

"When did you learn how to purr like Stitch does?" 628 looked confused as Stitch spoke up.

"Naga learn… Stitch just always do… when feel good," he explained.

"Hm… well, okay. What're you doing here alone in town anyway?" Lilo asked just as Jumba came walking out of the dry-cleaners with his super-oversized tux and an elegant dress.

"Ah! Little girl and 6-2-6… be feeding fish-deity?" he asked, staring at his tux.

"His name is Pudge. And yes, we did. It'll be nice and sunny till next week…" she glanced to Stitch. "Uuunless a cousin interferes," she added.

"Ah, being good!" They were quiet. Jumba smiled nervously as a nearby woman eyed him curiously and 628 stared at Stitch, as if he was trying to figure something out. Stitch soon started squirming under his scrutiny.

"Ooookay then… so we'll all just go about our business!" Lilo finally spoke up.

"Yesh!"

"Bye!"

"Buhbye!" and they all split up with 628 looking lost again. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go with the little girl and his cousin or with his creator.

"6-2-8! Come!" Jumba finally called which made up his name.


	9. Chapter 9

**raVen speaks:**

Yay! Another update... I got TON's of reviews for the last chapter... no, wait... I got... one. You people aren't really making this worth my time.Please, it would take only a few seconds of your precious time to review this chapter, and thats all I ask. If no-one shows interrest, then I don't see a reason for going on with it. I spend two weeks writing it, so you can spend a minute reviewing it. Please.

Enjoy the chapter.

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Chapter 9**

© by raVen

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A few minutes later, they reached the clearing to the Pelekai house.

"Okay. Let us be focusing on training reflexes." Jumba took the tennis-ball out of his pocket and lobbed it.

"Be catching ball!" 628 stared at Jumba.

"Well? Catch it!" he said and pointed at the ball that was now reaching it's apex somewhere rather high above the roof of the house. 628 turned around, and he scanned the sky for the ball. In an almost computerish-way, his eyes locked onto the ball, and his vision tunneled till it was as if the ball was just infront of him. He blinked and everything returned to normal… immediately his mind pumped out information… distance to the ball directly, distance to the ball via the ground, possible ways to catch the ball, air density, temperature and pressure, then the size of the ball and some other aspects. But he immediately remembered his powers, and figured it would be much easier to catch the ball that way. He threw up his arms, mimicking a catching movement, and narrowed his eyes. The next moment, the leaves around his feet kicked up, the leaves of the trees above them, on a direct path to the ball, blew and rustled violently, the side of the dome of Lilo and Stitch's room caved in and the ball imploded into a fine powder. He quickly pulled back his arms and stared wide-eyed as the fine mist, that was a ball moments ago, dissipated, as well as the small dent in the dome. Jumba slapped his forehead and groaned.

"Soka!" 628 said again, worriedly and glanced at Jumba and at the former location of the former ball. Jumba leaned down and glanced at 628's face for a moment.

"Well… theory was being correct… hemorrhaging was being only first-time effect." He stood up and looked at the dented dome.

"Hmm… let us rather be working on tuning down of powers a bit…" he said and produced another ball seemingly out of thin air, as he was holding another one when 628 looked back.

"Also, when saying to be catching ball, actually meaning to be physically running and using fingered limbs to be completing task."

628 glanced at his paw, and twiddled his fingers a bit, his claws clicking together, with an expression saying that he didn't understand why he had to do all that manual labor if he could just use his powers. But he just shrugged and obeyed his creator. A little voice inside him questioned why he was listening to this overgrown blubber-bag anyway… but another, greater and stronger voice shouted 'HERESY!' and quickly quieted the smaller voice down. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and noticed Jumba holding up the ball.

"Now… be using powers to be taking ball very softly… gentlest touch is all is needed."

Okay… that couldn't be so hard… he remembered what happened to the canister last time he did that… and what he just did with the previous ball. He narrowed his eyes and reached out ever so softly and closed his claws in a gripping motion, while at the same time letting only a little bit of his power out. The ball moved slightly, then became slightly oval as its side's were pushed in, and then changed back to a round shape as this force surrounded the ball and it rose steadily from Jumba's hand.

"Ah… there you are going…" Jumba said, and removed his hand. The ball stayed in the air.

"Now… instead of using many power like with previous ball, try to be for steadily and gently stopping movement of object with mind… apply little force and gradually slow it to stopping position," Jumba explained and plucked the ball out of the air.

"Be trying this now," Jumba said and 628 readied himself. Jumba held the ball at arms length and let it drop. Motioning his hands, 628 formed a cushion of force under the ball and gently applied it to the ball. The ball dropped slower and slower until it stopped several inches from the ground. Jumba laughed and applauded.

"Good! Hehehe! Now…" he picked up the ball.

"Be catching ball, without using powers." 628's ears tilted up, and then backwards as he readied himself once more. Jumba dropped the ball, and 628 dove forward with his paws outstretched. It fell gently into his palms as he struck the ground. He grinned at the ball, and then frowned a little, feeling his bottom set of arms, and pushed outwards, having them emerge, and used them to push himself up to his feet. He smiled and held the ball up to Jumba, who took it from him.

"Good. Now, try catching it again, without powers." Jumba lobbed the ball over 628's head and a few meters back. He jumped away and ran on all-sixes till he was under the ball, just as it came down, and flipped over onto his back mid-run, catching the ball as he landed on his back. He used his bottom arms to push himself up into a sitting position again.

"Aga!" he yelled back at Jumba, who applauded and walked closer.

"Are coming along finely. Be following…" he said and walked on to the side of the house to a clean section of wall.

"Now… will be bouncing ball of structure-wall, and you are to be catching."

"Iga kishiata migatta kroshi?"

"No, without powers…"

"Aw, jijibbe…" 628 said and pouted. Jumba laughed.

"Don't be of worrying. Will be testing powers extensively after exercises." 628 nodded, and without warning, Jumba flung the ball at the wall.

"Go!" 628 barely had time to turn his head when the ball was speeding back towards them again. The ball hit him squarely in the head and bounced into the air. He fell over in a near-comical manner and Jumba caught the ball. Getting to his feet, 628 rubbed his head, and felt his heart pounding in his chest.

"Hm… will have to be working on reflexes." He lobbed the ball again, without warning, but 628 caught it this time, with one paw extended to the right of his head. Jumba showed no sign of being impressed, and merely motioned for 628 to give him the ball. The moment he had it, he threw it at the wall again, this time a little higher. 628 jumped and caught the ball in his lap, landing on his feet. He lobbed Jumba the ball, who shot it at the wall, this time to the opposite side of where 628 was standing. In a blur of white fur and a whir of leaves, 628 moved to the left of Jumba and cart-wheeled, catching the ball with his lower-right arm in mid-air, landing on his feet once more.

"Haha!" he laughed triumphantly and held the ball high. Jumba nodded, slightly impressed. 628 threw the ball back, and Jumba lobbed it at the wall, this time higher than before. Seeing this, 628 quickly ran at Jumba, who flinched and instinctively held up his arm as 628 ran up him and with little effort, he pressed his upper arms on Jumba's right shoulder and rebounded off it into the air, flipping over a few times and then catching the ball in the middle of his third flip. He made one more flip as he came back down and landed on his feet. He turned around and presented the ball to Jumba with a smug look. Jumba applauded.

"Not bad! Not bad at all! You are having same thinking-rationality as 626! Perfect!"

He did this a few more times, and 628 kept catching the ball, performing various acrobatic moves and shows of agility to get at the ball, all the while making it seem as if he wasn't even making an effort. But the actual fact was that he was amazing and surprising himself with every catch. He hadn't really realized just what he could really do, and understood now why Jumba was doing this little exercise. His breath was really racing by the time Jumba announced that they were done, and he let his tongue hang out.

"Let us be taking break before next exercises."

* * *

"Mahalo plenty! And have fun!" Nani said and waved as the surfer ran off with his board.

"Nani!"

"Oh, hey honey, how was your day so far?" Nani said, glancing back as Lilo and her blue dog came walking in.

"Pretty boring… there's no new experiments to catch… it's cloudy so there's not much tourists, and Pudge was too busy to talk…" Nani wanted to say something but Lilo interrupted.

"But don't worry! He said that the island won't be washed away by any heavy rains soon…" she said, anticipating what she thought Nani was going to say. Nani just rubbed her forehead. A few moments later Nani glanced at her watch.

"Okay, I have about thirty minutes off so we can go get your new- Stitch! Let go of those!" Nani said and grabbed the flippers Stitch was chewing on and pried them out of his mouth… and in doing so, one of his teeth popped out and clicked on the floor.

"Aga!" he yelled and grabbed his mouth.

"Nani! What did you do?" Lilo yelled and ran to her blue friend, picking up the tooth.

"Lilo, it's not my fault he was biting down that hard… this isn't my stuff you know…" But Lilo was ignoring Nani.

"Are you okay?" Lilo said. A few tears had welled up in the corners of Stitch's eyes and he was tonguing the gap in his mouth. It was right to the left of his giant left canine. It was bleeding a little, but strangely enough, another white tip was protruding from his gums right at the spot the previous one had been.

"Ih… Stitch okay…"

"What happened?"

"Was itching… and couldn't scratch… so Stitch chew to get rid of itchiness…" he said and rubbed his cheek. The pain was beginning to fade somewhat into a simple uncomfortable feeling.

"Maybe he's teething, like you did a while ago," Nani said.

"But Jumba said he's all grown up…" Lilo replied. "And grown-up people don't lose their teeth…" She gasped. "I read that when vampires crack or break their fangs, that their bodies replace them with new ones…" she said quickly and looked at the slightly bloody tooth in her hand. Surely enough, the tip had chipped off and there was a long groove down the back side. Nani saw this too.

"He must've bitten on to something sharp that did that…" Then it dawned on them.

"Yeah! The big stinky-head was using that big spear thing last week! Said it was a 'change of strategy' while he was giving his usual evil-rant right before we kicked his butt…"

"Ih! Stinky-head poke Stitch and Stitch bite-" and here followed a show of verbal sound effects and make-shift action as Stitch played out the moment for the other two.

"Yeah, and then he shook it around and threw Stitch off… it must've been then when he hurt his tooth…"

"Okay okay, that's all well and fine, but I only have twenty minutes left… let's go." They filed out of the door, Stitch first, still holding his mouth, and then Lilo, and then Nani, locking the door as she exited.

"Just go see Jumba when you get back to make sure it's nothing serious."

"Okay." And with that, they set off to town.

* * *

"Uuuueeenngh…"

Lightning struck the ground all around and the air above crackled with electricity. The sky was black but everything seemed to glow in an unseen blue radiance. The experiment lift his head and was immediately hit with a blinding headache. He grit his teeth and laid back down, waiting till the throbbing died down some. His ears were filled with a constant whistling and all his nose picked up was the smell of flames… things burning or burnt… wood, grass, plastic… flesh… He opened his eyes and was welcomed with the sight of… nothing. At this, he panicked and sat up quickly, blinking quickly… his head threatened to explode, but he ignored it and rubbed his eyes instinctively. When he opened them again, something was slightly visible… and the image cleared and brightened into something horribly distorted. All the colors seemed inverted... Everything was blue or black and the edges of his vision were distorted as if he was looking through a fishbowl full of water. He looked down at his own body, to see if it was blue as well, and was shocked to see glowing lines running all over his arms, chest and legs. Strange cracks, as if a light was shining from inside of him, an odd reddish light. His fur was a purplish color due to the blue surroundings mixing with his red fur, but the red light shining from the strange marks all over his body stood in severe contrast to his surroundings. He got up and looked around… there were ruins everywhere, odd winds were tugging at his fur and blowing at the dusty ground, kicking up blue dust and carrying it into the air… air that was riddled with chunks of rocks that seemed to be blown around as if it was paper. Lightning struck all over… again and again, and only then the experiment noticed that the remains of the city he was in was crumbling… chunks of bricks and metal were randomly and effortlessly torn out of anything that was still standing, and was carried into the air.

"Great gods of all that exists…" he thought in horrified awe as he stared at his surroundings.

"Did… _I_…do this…?"

Several moments went by and the whistling in his ears died down; the sounds of his surroundings slowly returned to him. He was shocked to hear his own breathing first, and then the rather loud noise of the wind. It sounded like he was right in the centre of a severe hurricane… and that would make sense as the buildings were literally being blown away around him… but… to him, it felt like a breeze.

"What is happen-" he stopped speaking at once.

"My voice…!" he said again… but the voice wasn't his. It was that of some demonic beast. He reached to his mouth in shock. His brain felt like it was about to creep into some remote corner of his mind, where it would remain to laugh at the rest of the world on the other side of his eye-sockets. The next moment, the face of a menacing beast that he knew all to well, flashed in front of his face, and he convulsed. Every muscle in his body pulled as hard as it could, and fire raced through his veins. His vision was blindingly-white and he felt as if bones inside him was splitting apart… someone was screaming and it mixed in with the winds around him. When the pain stopped, he realized it was he that was screaming… and a menacing laughter, cold and cruel, filled his ears… but this soon passed, and he was left in the wasteland that the Grand Council Woman had created. His breath raced and he looked down at himself. The few marks that had covered his body now seemed to be everywhere, and they formed odd patterns, still shining in a strange red light. He looked at his paws… his claws had been replaced with brutal black, serrated talons, and he noticed the marks led down both his arms, and a single glowing and winding line to each claw. The distortion in his vision also seemed to have intensified; everything seemed to come in and out of focus with each one of his heart-beats, which he could hear clearly along with his breathing. He found that he remembered the fight he had with the Grand Council Woman… somehow he knew that he looked like he did because of her, of what she did. He found his thoughts trailing to everything his alter-self had done… and he was horrified… not only in the sheer amount of death, but also in the fact that he actually knew what his alter-self was doing. It is as if, in some strange way, they had fused into the same being. Then something disturbing flashed into his mind. A red crystal…

* * *

The hover-vehicle came to a stop into the landing-bay and the rear opened up. A funny looking alien got out of the front. It was large, and green, and had no legs… it moved with the help of a few tentacles. Only two arms, no neck either, and its face had no mouth. A tall, purple creature came from a nearby control room. The green one spoke, in some strange, undecipherable language that sounded like the cross between two mating mongooses, a wookie and a drowning cow. The purple one replied, thankfully, in turian. (translated for your convenience, and because I'm to lazy to type up turian).

"_Yes, sir. The package is here, under high security… it would be best if you collected it yourself, just to be sure." _

The green one replied once more, in its weird gibberish. They left through a door in the distance. Moments later, a small, red and fluffy experiment crept onto the platform of the landing bay. 'Phew… I thought they were never going to finish… I've been waiting down there for ages…' he thought to himself. He quickly hurried to the back of the hover-vehicle and jumped in. He quickly started searching through the various boxes for anything to eat, throwing various objects about, and finally finding some raw horlak meat, meant for the owner's pets. He didn't care, he wolfed it down quickly and let out a loud belch when he was done… but footsteps stopped him from jumping from the vehicle, and, instead, he hid in the box he had emptied…

"_No, not rare, sir… unique… Jumba Jookiba sent this himself… talked something about it having severe adverse effects on his creations…said he wanted to isolate the rock's positive effects on them, but cut out the side-effects..."_

The purple creature spoke again.

"_Uhm, well… they go insane… Jumba also mentioned that his experiments are made for mischief and destruction… not death, but after exposing his experiment number 6-2-7 to it, the creature became completely insane and malevolent… he had to lock it up."_

Some more noises from our purple friend.

"_You're supposed to experiment with it, find a way to isolate its positive effects… Jumba said that he will forward experiment 6-0-6 to you to experiment on…"_

The purple creature remained quiet for several seconds, a container was placed in the back of the vehicle, and the doors closed. The talking continued on outside, but soon enough, the vehicle started up, and started moving. The red experiment got out of the box and hurried to the door… he opened up on door a little, and noticed they were a few hundred feet from the ground. He groaned. He closed the door, and… indeed… curiosity took over, and he started fiddling with the container. He had not seen his creator for nearly two years… since he escaped from the lab… He got it open and suddenly, everything went blank… an image of a red crystal burnt into his mind as a voice spoke.

"You are chosen by fate, as an agent of fate, to set things back to the way its supposed to be… the universe and all its life is trapped in an infinite circle of death, birth, death and rebirth… to many are born for souls to rest… they are immediately called back into the mortal plane… I need you… as an angel of death, to bring about the balance of the universe… your power shall be great, and you will serve your purpose well… And then you, too… shall rest… go now, and return the wheel of fate to the way it should be…" The darkness faded and he once again saw the back of the vehicle… but the red crystal was gone. Inside him, he felt a dark heat… an evil warmth, glowing… pulsing… growing…

Two weeks later the planet was destroyed…

* * *

426 woke from his flashback and sat up once more. He glanced at his hands, his claws, his body.

"So that's what happened…" he said and looked to the blue, lightning-filled sky above.

"I must get off this planet… I must find Jumba…"

* * *

**raVen speaks:**

So, see you all in the next chapter. Let's just say that the more reviews I get, the quicker it'll be here. Reviews are like _the feul to my fire. _Get what I'm saying? _My supply of gas and the igniter. _No?

It's simple. Review.

Nyo.


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